Posted Draft EIS Comments

I’m a Minnesotan who for years protested Line 3 and the Enbridge corporation which created devastation across our state with their faulty construction methods, leading to dozens of frack-outs and damage to hundreds of wetlands crossing. This is well documented by the scientists and assistants of Waadookawaad Amikwag (https://waadookawaadamikwag.org/). Wisconsin and Michigan are on the verge of facing the same terrible destruction if Line 5 is allowed to proceed, especially the Line 5 tunnel through the straits of Mackinaw. Please, at the least, allow more time for review of the EIS (a 1000+ page document!) so that professionals and concerned citizens of the Great Lakes can properly respond. Enbridge lied to the people of Minnesota, to the state’s Dept of Natural Resources, and to the state Pollution Control Agency. They sought to cover up their egregious incompetence, and they were found guilty of damaging rare and pristine natural resources, but the largest penalty possible was a pittance to their enormous coffers. This foreign owned company is no friend of Michigan or Wisconsin. They will suck you dry and leave you with terrible damage to the Great Lakes for you to clean up at your cost.

I am passionately opposed to the Enbridge Line 5 in general and the Line 5 Tunnel project in particular. It is my feeling, having read the EIS, that the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) prepared the Impact Statement without taking any of the lakebed conditions and/or potential damages into consideration; it reads as if the only thing they looked at were the two landing areas for the pipeline on opposite shores of the Straits of Mackinac.

The Great Lakes are one of this nation’s greatest treasures, to say nothing of harboring around 20% of the Planet Earth’s fresh water supply. This project shortsightedly does nothing to reduce the Lakes’ risk of an oil spill – Enbridge’s safety record with regard to pipeline ruptures and spills is pretty dismal – and compounds the risk by adding a potential tunnel collapse in mid-Strait to the equasion.

This, of course, says nothing about the complete lack of need for the Line 5 pipeline in general, which should be completely shut down. We Do Not Need More Oil! The resources wasted on a petrolium pipeline should instead be steered into more environmentally conscious “green” resources, such as wind, solar, or hydroelectric power.

Abandon the entire Line 5. Pipeline, Tunnel, and Everything. Let Canada worry about how they need to polllute their lands with oil spills; KEEP CANADIAN OIL THE HELL OUT OF MICHIGAN.

At the most, scrap this project and all infrastructure based on expanding the use and extraction of fossil fuels. At the least, give more time for review of this EIS and further comments.

Please do not do this. This will only accelerate the deterioration of the Great Lakes.

Shut down line 5, and never being the line 5 tunnel.

The harm that could come from the construction of this tunnel, not to mention the potential for a leak/spill in the current underwater system while work is occurring, is too high a price to pay for little gain. The analysis seems screwed in favor of the corporate sector with little or no weight given to the potential environmental losses that may occur. Irreparable losses.
Please reconsider this in light of seven generations ahead, not a few $$$ made tomorrow. No amount if money would be able to repair the damage.

We can’t build the tunnel. We have to learn from our mistakes. Line 5 has spilled 33 times and at least 1.1 million gallons along its length since 1968.

The pipelines in the Straits of Mackinac cross one of the most ecologically sensitive areas in the world. The Great Lakes are home to 21 percent of the world’s fresh surface water. The pristine Straits area supports bountiful fisheries, provides drinking water to thousands of people, and anchors a thriving tourism industry with historic and beautiful Mackinac Island right in the center. This area is the definition of Pure Michigan.

Moreover: The product in Line 5 is not for Michigan. It’s for Canada’s benefit.

Many red flags exist, here are some:

An anchor strike in 2018 from a ship in peril gashed and dented both underwater pipelines.

Enbridge contractors severely damaged pipeline supports in 2019, but Enbridge safety measures missed the damage, which wasn’t even discovered until June 2020. The pipeline was temporarily shut down to inspect the damage (subsequently reopened).

Enbridge, Inc., the Canadian company that operates the pipeline, has a tarnished safety record. Its spills include the second-largest inland oil spill when Line 6B spilled 1.1 million gallons of tar sands bitumen into the Kalamazoo River in 2010.

The contract between the pipeline company and the State of Michigan (the Easement) has ongoing compliance issues. Gov. Whitmer revoked the easement in 2021 because of eight known violations that make the pipeline dangerous.

The age, location, and questionable condition of the pipeline are themselves reason not to license it.

An increase in the volume and pressure of fluids moving through the pipelines will pose more risk to the Great Lakes.

There is a lack of transparency about safety inspections and what petroleum products are being transported through Line 5 in the Great Lakes.

The lack of proactive regulatory environments in Michigan and at the federal level.

University of Michigan scientists modeled the currents in the Straits of Mackinac and called it “the worst possible place for an oil spill in the Great Lakes.”

Line 5 is a shortcut for Canada’s benefit, with less than 5 to 10% of the product used in Michigan.

Above all, we need to move to renewables. Scientists warn that we have less than ten years to reduce carbon emissions by half or face dire consequences from a dangerously overheating climate. Moving away from dirty fuels like the ones carried by Line 5 is even more urgent.

A tunnel to carry oil and oil by-products under the Straits of Mackinaw is not good for the environment. What is the plan for a massive leak? Both groundwater and lake water would be effected. There is no real economic need – except for Enbridge. Time to pursue other energy sources. Please do not approve.

I live on Lake Michigan and am strongly opposed to this project. Protect the Great Lakes, listen to Native communities, prevent an environmental disaster – please deny the permit for Line 5.

At a time when world consensus tells us fossil fuels are harmful and outdated, it makes no sense to spend the required resources to construct the Line 5 tunnel. It makes even less sense to continue pumping hazardous materials through a pipeline that is now 22 years beyond its intended use. Even if the project proceeds on schedule, the existing pipeline will still be straining to carry hazardous materials almost 30 years longer than intended. All this is taking place in the Straits of Mackinac, a body of water especially vulnerable to exactly the potential oil spill Line 5 represents. We’re on borrowed time with Line 5. Its risks to our economy and environment greatly outweigh its possible benefits.

Line 5 pipeline was granted easement rights for decades, by the State of Michigan, and not until that easement was denied based on very real environmental concerns for the waters of the Great Lakes and the climate reality caused by systemic support of fossil fuel build out. Enbridge is not serving as a “bridge to an energy future,” if they were, they would have invested in solar or wind or geothermal or any renewable energy for our residents, our state, and our planet. Instead, they demand build out for a FOREIGN-OWNED pipeline company who is investing in more LNG and greenhouse gas-producing energy options. It’s time to be responsible government planners and overseers of our future generations. Demand the Enbridge investments be renewables, not tunnels of oil and gas.