Five Updates on Line 5

The latest on the dispute over the Mackinac Straits pipeline

More than six years after Canadian energy giant Enbridge submitted plans for a Great Lakes Tunnel Project to bury its Line 5 oil and gas lines deep under the Straits of Mackinac, folks fighting for and against may soon learn whether the project will become a reality.

1. Government & Court Decisions Expected in July

In mid-June, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy held a final hearing on Enbridge’s request to discharge up to 5 million gallons of water per day into Lake Michigan as part of the construction process.

A decision on the permit, one of three needed from the agency, is expected in early July.
EGLE is also reviewing public comments on Wetlands Protection and Great Lakes Submerged Lands permits the department initially approved in 2021 that have since expired, with a decision on those in the coming weeks.

The Michigan Supreme Court in March heard appeals to the Michigan Public Service Commission’s 2023 approval for siting and construction of the 4.5-mile tunnel for Line 5, and a ruling there is expected before the court’s current term ends July 31.

There’s also pending federal permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which fast-tracked its environmental review process and is currently awaiting decisions from state regulators before issuing a record of decision.

“I think we’re starting to see the finish line on this,” Enbridge spokesman Ryan Duffy says. “I think in the next few months, we’ll have more clarity on the permits.”

2. Environmental Orgs Are Still in the Fight

In the meantime, coalitions backing and opposing the project are ramping up efforts to make their case, as litigation over the pipeline itself continues a years-long slog through state and federal courts.

“The message is really about the state of Michigan standing up for the Great Lakes,” says Liz Kirkwood, executive director of Flow Water Advocates. “I think this is a central moment in the public’s opportunity to ensure that the future of the Great Lakes is decided by the facts.”

At the MPSC, EGLE, Army Corps, and in legal briefs, Flow and allies argue Line 5 poses a “clear and present danger” and there’s “smarter and better alternatives to transport oil around the Great Lakes,” Kirkwood says.

The potential dangers, according to Flow, include the risk of explosion during the tunnel’s construction that could crack open the dual pipeline above that carries 540,000 barrels of oil and gas each day along the bottom of the Straits of Mackinac.

The Native American Rights Fund and Earthjustice, co-counsel for the Bay Mills Indian Community, have also highlighted unvetted risks the tunnel poses to tribal resources, as well as 40 million residents who rely on the Great Lakes for drinking water.

“It’s a false solution to the risky existing pipeline,” says Debbie Chizewer, managing attorney for Earthjustice’s Midwest office. “The design itself is untested,” she adds. “The depth is going to cause a lot of pressure for the tunnel boring machine.”

The risks, Chizewer argues, extend well beyond the tunnel project, with more than 30 oil spills along Line 5’s 645-mile path through the Upper Peninsula to Sarnia, Canada over the last 73 years.

“The problem of the actual pipeline … is not just at the straits,” she says. “The rest of the pipeline is failing.”

Chizewer explains that the record of spills “should cause people to pause, rather than putting at stake this resource. When you think of the potential benefits to the risk … it’s just not worth the risk.”

3. A Corporate Coalition Supports the Pipeline

A coalition that includes oil and gas industry associations, major business groups like the Michigan Chamber and Detroit Regional Chamber, tribal businesses, and several trade unions offer a different perspective.

The coalition, Great Lakes Michigan Jobs, points to an anchor strike on the existing pipeline in the straits in 2018 that sparked “a plan to build the Great Lakes Tunnel far below the lakebed—removing altogether the risk of another anchor strike.”

“The Great Lakes Tunnel will be at least 10 feet in diameter and over 4 miles long—big enough for pipeline workers (and, one, day, telecommunications providers or other companies in need of underwater infrastructure) to work inside the tunnel on inspection and maintenance projects,” the coalition’s website reads. “It’s a vital Michigan asset over the long term, and it’s going to be entirely paid for by the company that operates Line 5.”

The coalition and Enbridge note Line 5 supplies 65 percent of the propane in the Upper Peninsula and 55 percent statewide.

“It’s more than half of the propane from the product on Line 5, and Michigan uses more of that than any other state,” Duffy says.

Light crude in Line 5 also feeds 10 regional refineries, which produce the majority of the jet fuel for the Detroit airport, as well as the raw ingredients for car parts, medical devices, toys, electrics, personal care items, and many other consumer and industrial products, Duffy says.

“More than 6,000 consumer products are made from the product carried on Line 5,” he tells us. “It’s extremely important to the state and region as a whole.”
Shutting down the pipeline wouldn’t halt the demand, and “there’s not really a viable alterative to Line 5,” Duffy argues, noting other pipelines in the region are already near capacity. “It would take 2,000 trucks a day [over the Mackinac Bridge] to move that product, 850 rail cars per day,” he says. “There’s not enough truck drivers to do that to begin with.”

4. Legal Battles Continue

As debate over the merits and risks of Line 5 rages on, so does the legal battle in both state and federal courts.

In December, a federal district court ruled in a lawsuit brought by Enbridge that Michigan has no authority to shut down Line 5, and Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has appealed that decision to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The U.S. Supreme Court in April rejected Enbridge’s efforts to move a lawsuit filed by Nessel to federal court. That lawsuit challenging Line 5’s 1953 easement remains in state court, but is on hold pending the federal court appeal.

Other litigation is ongoing in northern Wisconsin over a reroute of Line 5 around the reservation of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, though work is underway as Enbridge pursues additional permits for certain water crossings required by a judge in May.

There’s also potential legal challenges to pending permitting decisions in Michigan.

“I think they’ve conducted a flawed process that could be challenge, if that’s what our client decides to do,” NARF attorney David Gover says. “I think it’s time for the state to step up.”

“Our choice is between an oil spill in the Great Lakes and a clean water future for our children and grandchildren to enjoy,” Bay Mills Indian Community President Whitney Gravelle said in a statement. “We simply want government officials to consider the safest, cheapest, and most common-sense alternative: Decommission Line 5.”

5. Community Outreach Happening on Both Sides

That’s the message the tribe and allied environmental groups have worked to promote during protests at the Great Lakes Drinking Water Conference in downtown Traverse City in May, during information webinars, and in over 12,000 emails to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and EGLE.

“We’re working to really ramp up public engagement during this last public comment period” for the Line 5 discharge permit, Kirkwood says.

On Labor Day, Line 5 opponents will host their annual Pipe Out Paddle Protest, and Flow and others have more public information webinars in the works.

“Drilling down and trying to educate the public and media … is where the rubber meets the road,” Kirkwood says.

Enbridge and Line 5 supporters, meanwhile, are doing the same through an information center in St. Ignace, GreatLakesMichiganJobs.com, and community meetings along Line 5 that Duffy says have resulted in more than 30 counties signing on in support.

“We’ve always found a majority supporting the [tunnel] project, up around 60 percent,” he says.

Enbridge is also continuing to monitor ship traffic over Line 5 from its Maritime Operations Center, where operators reach out to each captain by radio as they approach the no anchor zone.
“Earlier this year, we hit the 10,000th ship going through the straits … since 2022,” Duffy says. “That was a big milestone for us.”

Learn more at flowwateradvocates.org/line5 and enbridge.com/projects-and-infrastructure/public-awareness/line-5-newsroom.

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