Every day, nearly 23 million gallons of oil flow through two aging pipelines in the heart of the Great Lakes, known as Line 5. Line 5 operates 20 years past expectancy and spans 645 miles across the Midwest, transporting oil from Alberta to Sarnia, Canada. Not only does Line 5 put the Great Lakes at enormous risk from an oil spill, the oil carried by this pipeline, once refined and burned, creates a huge carbon spill into the atmosphere. 
Enbridge, is a Canadian-based oil transport giant that owns and operates Line 5, along with over a dozen other pipelines that span across the US. The Midwest is no stranger to Enbridge as they are responsible for two of the largest oil spills in US history. Watch this informative video to learn more about Line 5 and how Enbridge’s Line 3 and Line 6B collectively spilled almost 3 million gallons of oil into and near our Midwest rivers.
Enbridge is now attempting to replace the pipeline with an oil tunnel that would continue to carry millions of gallons of climate-harming fossil fuels every day through our state for up to 99 more years. The pipeline would drill into the bedrock below the straits of Mackinac, further making an irreversible impact on our ecosystem. There is no doubt that extending the life of this pipeline would exacerbate climate change and the impacts we are already experiencing in Michigan.
Roughly ⅓ of the oil that runs through Line 5 is refined here in Michigan at the Detroit Marathon Refinery. An article by Bridge Detroit states “Detroit residents’ asthma rates are 46% higher than the state average. The refinery is located in an area that does not meet national air quality standards for sulfur dioxide. Since 2013, the corporation has violated state air quality laws 21 times at the refinery.”
American Lung Association Article: Detroit Metro Area Ranked 13th Worst in Nation for Annual Particle Pollution, According to the 2024 ‘State of the Air’ Report.
The Michigan Climate Action Network is working hard to shut down the Enbridge Line 5 oil pipeline and stop the proposed oil tunnel. You, too, can contribute by signing on to show support our MPSC appeal: On June 27, 2024, the Environmental Law & Policy Center (ELPC) and Michigan Climate Action Network (MiCAN) filed a brief asking the Michigan Court of Appeals to reverse the Michigan Public Service Commission’s flawed order approving a permit for Enbridge to build its “Line 5” oil pipeline tunnel in the lakebed of the Straits of Mackinac. Read the release >
You can also do your part by signing this petition, encouraging President Biden to exercise his authority to shut down Line 5 today.
Sign Petition Urging Biden to Shut Down Line 5
Already signed the petition? Send your message directly to Michigan US Senator Gary Peters with a phone call! Let Senator Peters know we need him too, to tell President Biden to act now and revoke the presidential permit for Line 5's operation.
Want to learn more from the indigenous perspective? Stream Bad River - A story from the perspective of The Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, who are living with a 12 mile stretch of Line 5 eroding on their land and their way of life.
The Latest in Line 5 Resources
- Congressional Report on Line 5 Replacement Tunnel
- Economic Report: Likely Market Responses to a Line 5 Shutdown
- Special Investigation Documentary on Michigan's Line 5 Pipeline
- The Strait Story Webinar: Enbridge Line 5 and Its Trespass on State Waters and Indigenous Lands
- The Facts About Line 5: How We Can Protect the Great Lakes From an Oil Spill
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Recent articles:
- No safe pipeline in Straits of Mackinac: Advocates appeal
- Environmental, Clean Energy Groups Appeal Michigan PSC’s Approval of Line 5 Tunnel/pipeline Project under Straits of Mackinac
- Why more than 60 Indigenous nations oppose the Line 5 oil pipeline
- America’s Most Dangerous Pipeline Lives Another Day
- Enbridge-MPSC Post-Mortem Series (2023 edition)
- New Series: How to Know About Line 5
Stopping the Tunnel
To build a tunnel, first Enbridge needs approval from the US Army Corps of Engineers and Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC). MiCAN has teamed up with attorneys at the Environmental Law & Policy Center to intervene in this case and make sure the impacts this new oil infrastructure would have on the climate are considered.
- In April 2021, we won an important victory when the MPSC ruled to include climate change in Enbridge's Line 5 permit hearing. This came after our attorneys argued our case to the Commissioners this spring, and we also submitted as public comment a letter signed by 120 businesses and more than 2,000 people urging the MPSC to include climate change evidence in their review of the proposed Line 5 tunnel.
- In June 2021, the Acting Army assistant secretary announced their decision to require the US Army Corp to conduct a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on Enbridge's proposed tunnel around Line 5. This step would slow down Enbridge's plans and result in significant new information about the dangerous climate effects of this proposed project.
- In the fall of 2022, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers opened to public comment its scope of review for the upcoming Environmental Impact Statement. Together with the Environmental Law & Policy Center, MiCAN submitted our stance calling into question the validity of investing further into fossil fuel infrastructure that undermines both our state and federal goals for carbon neutrality.
- Unfortunately, the Corps disagreed, issuing a ‘memorandum for record’ on June 28, 2023 that limited the scope of its environmental impact review to just the four-mile segment of Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac, and declined to consider the effects of continued long-term use of fossil fuels, climate impacts, or engineering concerns that have been identified by experts.
- A draft EIS is not expected to come until 2025, but in the meantime, the heartening news is that federal guidance for agencies regarding the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) continues to stress to include climate change impacts and equity.
- At the beginning of 2023, a couple new candidates were appointed to the Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority (MSCA), whom members of the Oil & Water Don’t Mix campaign called on to finally provide the necessary independent oversight of Line 5 operations. This came at a time when Enbridge was actively adding a sleeve around a section of the pipeline that has spilled at least four times already (despite downplaying it as “routine maintenance”), and was also right on the heels of engineers’ warning of two sources of flammable gas that, in the proposed tunnel's high-pressure and confined environment, would be able to set off an explosion under the Straits.
- On June 16th, 2023, a commendable step was taken when a federal court ordered that Enbridge decommission, within three years, its segment of Line 5 that is trespassing on the reservation of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians.
- On March 21st 2024 AG Nessel pleaded her case to keep the legal fight in Michigan Courts. The appeal was successful, resulting in the Federal Court Remanding the Line 5 Lawsuit Back to Michigan State Courts.
- On June 27, 2024, the ELPC & MiCAN filed a brief asking the Michigan Court of Appeals to reverse the MPSC’s flawed order approving a permit for Enbridge to build its “Line 5” oil pipeline tunnel in the lakebed of the Straits of Mackinac. Read the release >
Shutting Down Line 5
Michigan can be the first state to shut down an oil pipeline. While pipelines are federally regulated, Line 5 is unique because it crosses the Great Lakes bottomlands, so Enbridge holds an easement from the State of Michigan for the use of the Great Lakes public trust resource. Enbridge has violated this easement multiple times and Michigan's Governor, Attorney General, and legislature have a legal pathway to shut down Line 5.
In November 2020, Gov. Whitmer ordered the shut down of Line 5 by May 2021, but Enbridge continues to illegally operate this pipeline and is fighting to block her action. And, lest we forget Enbridge is still trespassing in Michigan, long after issuing the shut down order, furthering what we know to be true about the influence large corporations have over the powers that be.
Get more involved with the campaign to Shut Down the flow of oil in Line 5 with our partners at the Oil & Water Don't Mix Campaign.