Photo of a 2018 Line 5 protest, courtesy of Gravelle.
Enbridge Line 5 is a 645-mile oil pipeline that carries crude oil and natural gas liquids from Superior, Wisconsin, across northern Wisconsin, under the Straits of Mackinac, through Michigan and into Ontario, Canada. The pipeline has spilled 33 times, including the catastrophic 2010 Kalamazoo River spill which dumped 1.2 million gallons of oil into the Kalamazoo watershed. Line 5 was built in 1953, without the consent of Tribal Nations in its path and before bedrock environmental laws existed. It has never received permission from any of the Native Nations holding treaty rights in the broader region.
Enbridge is operating illegally in both Wisconsin and Michigan – the Bad River Band and Governor Whitmer have revoked Enbridge’s right to be on the easement in the Bad River Reservation and the Mackinac Straits, respectively.
Mackinac Straits Tunnel Project
Line 5 crosses from Michigan’s UP to the lower peninsula at the Mackinac Straits, where it splits into two parallel pipelines which are suspended above the lakebed by supports. It has been there for over 7 decades and is at risk for a major oil spill– many sections of the pipeline are unsupported or cracked and dented, have damaged coatings, and have dangerous curvature. A pipeline rupture under the Mackinac straits would risk polluting multiple Great Lakes, which contain 21% of the worlds’ freshwater.
Enbridge is now proposing tunneling directly underneath the Mackinac Straits to replace that section of the Line 5 pipeline. Their plan has raised numerous red flags for technical experts –they have not sufficiently tested or accounted for the geologic substrate and the current risk assessment is invalid. Check out the Oil and Water Don’t Mix website for more information.
The Straits of Mackinac are located within lands ceded in the 1836 Treaty of Washington. Hunting, fishing, and gathering rights are preserved in these lands by the signatories of the treaty– the Sault St. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, the Bay Mills Indian Community, the Grand Traverse Band of Ottowa and Chippewa Indians, the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, and the Little River Band of Ottowa Indians. The Line 5 tunnel impacts spawning grounds of lake trout and whitefish–disregarding tribal treaty rights.
For the Anishinaabe people of the Bay Mills Indian Community the Michilimackinac (Place of the Great Turtle), now known as the Straights of Mackinac, is a sacred place. It is where life began, and it is full of cultural, historic and archaeological sites, including burial sites threatened by the Line 5 tunnel. In 2021, the Bay Mills Indian Community banished Enbridge, based on its history of oil spills, improper operation and upkeep, and continuing to operate after their easement expired. Click here for more information on the Bay Mills resistance.
All 12 federally recognized tribal nations in Michigan oppose the pipeline and tunnel project. In 2021, they sent a signed letter to President Biden asking for Line 5 to be decommissioned. Additionally, more than 50 First Nations called on the government of Canada to stop violating the rights of Indigenous Peoples through its support of the Line 5 crude oil pipeline.
Monitoring Line 5 in Michigan
This website is a space to explore a map of line 5 in Michigan. We anticipate adding ways to submit observations about line 5 construction in Michigan as well.
Check out other resources!
Flow and Water Advocates Line 5 Factsheet
Flow Updates Blog for MI Line 5
Oil and Water Don’t Mix – Line 5 Overview
Grand Traverse Band of Ottowa and Chippewa Indians Enbridge Line 5 Pipeline Legal Docs