Devon Cupery & Scott Russell
Our Wisconsin and Michigan neighbors are working to protect the Great Lakes from Enbridge’s aged Line 5 crude oil pipeline, and from the corporation’s plan to build an even larger pipeline in its place. Line 5 is part of Enbridge’s US network, which also includes Line 3.
From what we experienced in Minnesota, our neighbors should worry. For instance, Line 3 construction resulted in multiple aquifer breaches, illegally releasing more than 255 million gallons of groundwater.
A Defunct and Dangerous Pipeline
Line 5 pumps 22 million gallons barrels of crude oil every single day. The pipeline is well past its 50-year useful life expectancy; and its continued operation risks catastrophic spills into the Straits, threatening Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, and millions of people’s drinking water.
The state of Michigan has revoked Line 5’s easement to operate in the Straits of Mackinac, and easements to cross the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa’s lands expired in 2013. But the line is still operating because Enbridge has tied up both challenges in court.
Line 5 Expansions: Even Worse
Enbridge is now proposing to bore a tunnel under the Straits for a new segment of pipeline. At a March 17 public hearing, everyone who testified opposed the tunnel.
“Enbridge wants to discharge five million gallons of wastewater into Lake Michigan every day that the tunnel is being constructed,” said Mike Wilczynski, who worked 12 years as a geologist for the former Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. “Enbridge hasn’t said how it will remove bentonite clay from the slurry prior to discharge. When mixed with water, bentonite will stick to everything it touches – killing fisheries and destroying our drinking water – not to mention forming an impermeable barrier suspended on top of Lake Michigan for years to come.”
Enbridge also proposes to reroute a 40-mile segment around the Bad River reservation, but the new route cuts through the band’s watershed, crossing hundreds of waterways that flow into the reservation and the Kakagon and Bad River Sloughs.
The Band is calling for public support to protect its drinking water, wild rice, fisheries, and cultural survival.
North Star Role
The North Star Chapter’s Stop Line 3 Team has rebranded itself as the “Keep it in the Ground” Team. Our work will include supporting work in Wisconsin and Michigan opposing Line 5.
We have a lot to bring to the table. We and our partners have documented the harm done by Line 3 construction. We can raise awareness about Enbridge’s permit violations, including its multiple aquifer breaches in Minnesota that illegally released more than 255 million gallons of groundwater and extensive drilling fluid pollution at river crossings.
We are also part of a larger partnership working to continue documenting Line 3 environmental damage, pressuring our regulatory agencies to do better and act on behalf of the people of this state.
This is an ongoing story. Watch for action alerts.
Scott Russell is a former co-chair of the chapter's Stop Line 3 Team and is still trying to figure out how state regulators failed us so badly.
Devon Young Cupery is a communications specialist with the chapter, who believes in the power of people.