Indigenous activists and their supporters gathered at the state Capitol Wednesday to protest the Line 5 oil and natural gas pipeline.
Line 5 stretches hundreds of miles between Wisconsin and Ontario, Canada, including a portion that runs through the Straits of Mackinac.
Opponents have spent years trying to shut it down. They argue the pipeline’s continued operation poses a serious threat to the Great Lakes and the surrounding environment.
Antonio Cosme, an advocate with the Black to the Land Coalition, came from Detroit for the rally. He said people should speak against the pipeline as often as possible.
“We have to take every opportunity to express ourselves. It’s tough to get here on a Wednesday, it’s a weekday, and a good number of people, maybe a hundred people, showed up here to voice and embody their opposition. And I think that’s a positive sign and it’s a sign of what’s more to come,” Cosme said.
State and federal officials are weighing permits for a project to encase the underwater pipeline in a tunnel below the Straits, possibly extending its lifespan.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently approved a permit for the Great Lakes Tunnel Project. Less than two weeks before that, the Michigan Supreme Court had ordered state regulators back to the drawing board when it came to permitting.
Other legal fights over the pipeline's continued operation are in court.
Tribes have spoken out against the process.
Activist and tribal citizen Nichole Keway Biber said decisionmakers need to listen to tribes in those discussions.
"Don’t treat it as just a little box to check, as an afterthought, as 'we make the decision even though the tribes are obviously in opposition.' Don’t do that. Come to us, government to government,” Keway Biber said.
Enbridge Energy, the company that owns Line 5, has consistently stated its commitment to following state and federal safety standards. It maintains the tunnel project would make the pipeline and its surrounding environment more secure.
“The recent renewal of key state permits by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, combined with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ approval of the federal permit for the Great Lakes Tunnel Project, represents meaningful progress for a project designed to further protect the Great Lakes while helping ensure the uninterrupted flow of energy that Michigan and the region rely on every day, Enbridge spokesperson Ryan Duffy said in an emailed statement.
"These approvals reflect years of detailed regulatory review, including extensive environmental analysis, public input, and consideration of engineering, cultural, natural resource and community factors,” Duffy said.
Environmentalists are raising doubts, however.
On Tuesday, a leak in a separate, above-ground section of Line 5 in Wisconsin forced an evacuation after the pipeline was hit by a semi-truck. The pipeline was still shut down Wednesday and power was off in the area, but local officials said they had not detected any hazardous levels of gases near the rupture.
Editor's note: Enbridge is among Michigan Public's corporate sponsors.
