Name
Kevin Kolk
Organization/Affiliation
Entry Date
August 15, 2022 2:02 pm
Attachment
Comments
Line 5 should have never been built in the first place, running oil and gas products under one of the largest reservoirs of fresh water in the world is taking unnecessary risks. The pipeline itself should be decommissioned entirely and alternative above ground pipeline routes that do not cross Great Lakes open water should be explored.
Enbridge has a history of failing to properly maintain it's pipelines and has already caused a significant spill in the Kalamazoo River. Enbridge's Line 6B spilled 1.1 million gallons of oil into the Kalamazoo River after knowing the pipeline was unsafe but not repairing it. The Line 5 pipeline is located in a busy shipping channel and has already been struck by anchors. Enbridge should not be allowed to continue to operate Line 5 and risk the Great Lakes waters in the process, much less double down and build a tunnel to continue this practice into the future.
Other safer, easier to operate, easier to maintain, and easier to monitor pipelines exist to supply Michigan's energy needs. We do not need to risk the water quality of the Great Lakes ecosystems for our energy needs by continuing to operate Line 5.
Enbridge has a history of failing to properly maintain it's pipelines and has already caused a significant spill in the Kalamazoo River. Enbridge's Line 6B spilled 1.1 million gallons of oil into the Kalamazoo River after knowing the pipeline was unsafe but not repairing it. The Line 5 pipeline is located in a busy shipping channel and has already been struck by anchors. Enbridge should not be allowed to continue to operate Line 5 and risk the Great Lakes waters in the process, much less double down and build a tunnel to continue this practice into the future.
Other safer, easier to operate, easier to maintain, and easier to monitor pipelines exist to supply Michigan's energy needs. We do not need to risk the water quality of the Great Lakes ecosystems for our energy needs by continuing to operate Line 5.
Name
Robert Walkowicz
Organization/Affiliation
N/A
Entry Date
August 15, 2022 1:52 pm
Attachment
Comments
I understand how important Line 5 is to the livelihood of those in upper Michigan. But the solution is very simple as I is it. With the age of Line 5 and the concern of any possible leak from it. Not only should a tunnel be built around the line. It should be abandon with a new line built next to it, and both lines incapsulated by the tunnel being discussed. Enbridge is a multi faceted company with the needed recourses to achieve a project of this scale.
Name
Wendy Case
Organization/Affiliation
Arrow Arts Psychotherapy, LLC
Entry Date
August 15, 2022 1:14 pm
Attachment
Comments
To whom it may concern:
It is my understanding that this proposal represents the further desecration of sacred tribal land and has been formally opposed in Washington by all twelve Federally-recognized indigenous tribes of our state. These are peoples who have been systematically oppressed, displaced and brutalized "in the name of progress" for hundreds of years - children and families who, in that particular area of Michigan, have never truly recovered. I am a therapist who has experience working with historical trauma and I can share with you that indigenous peoples have the highest rates, per capita, in the United States for SUD, violence against women and teen/pre-teen suicide. No one seems to be discussing the human toll here, or the plundering of what is already a very fragile ecosystem. My husband and I own land along the West Coast of Michigan, about 37 miles away from where this project is planned to take place. As various PBS broadcasts have clarified, this project is of little benefit to the state and is simply a dangerous, financially-motivated shortcut to move Enbridge's product elsewhere. To further exploit native peoples and risk the destruction of our Great Lakes for the profit of a foreign entity with a heinous track record for environmental destruction seems unconscionable. If Canadian oil giant Enbridge wishes to continue to route its product into the US, it can use the road and rail means already in place to to transport such products. Further, if this project is approved, the already rickety, leaking, zebra mussel-encrusted Line 5 will be forced to shoulder the burden of Enbridge's shortcut for years to come while the tunnel is under construction. Enbridge, responsible for the biggest inland oil spill in US history (and numerous other catastrophic spills), has shown itself to be a very poor steward. This risks involved with this project are enormous, and unethical in ways too numerous to count.
For these reasons, I am opposed.
Thank you for your time and please feel free to contact me:
Wendy Case, LPC, ATR-BC, CAADC, MAC
wcase@arrow-arts.com
(248) 955-5576
It is my understanding that this proposal represents the further desecration of sacred tribal land and has been formally opposed in Washington by all twelve Federally-recognized indigenous tribes of our state. These are peoples who have been systematically oppressed, displaced and brutalized "in the name of progress" for hundreds of years - children and families who, in that particular area of Michigan, have never truly recovered. I am a therapist who has experience working with historical trauma and I can share with you that indigenous peoples have the highest rates, per capita, in the United States for SUD, violence against women and teen/pre-teen suicide. No one seems to be discussing the human toll here, or the plundering of what is already a very fragile ecosystem. My husband and I own land along the West Coast of Michigan, about 37 miles away from where this project is planned to take place. As various PBS broadcasts have clarified, this project is of little benefit to the state and is simply a dangerous, financially-motivated shortcut to move Enbridge's product elsewhere. To further exploit native peoples and risk the destruction of our Great Lakes for the profit of a foreign entity with a heinous track record for environmental destruction seems unconscionable. If Canadian oil giant Enbridge wishes to continue to route its product into the US, it can use the road and rail means already in place to to transport such products. Further, if this project is approved, the already rickety, leaking, zebra mussel-encrusted Line 5 will be forced to shoulder the burden of Enbridge's shortcut for years to come while the tunnel is under construction. Enbridge, responsible for the biggest inland oil spill in US history (and numerous other catastrophic spills), has shown itself to be a very poor steward. This risks involved with this project are enormous, and unethical in ways too numerous to count.
For these reasons, I am opposed.
Thank you for your time and please feel free to contact me:
Wendy Case, LPC, ATR-BC, CAADC, MAC
wcase@arrow-arts.com
(248) 955-5576
Name
John Hill
Organization/Affiliation
Entry Date
August 15, 2022 12:54 pm
Attachment
Comments
Seems to me the oil company has proposed a reasonable proposal that would protect our natural resources while addressing the reality that much of our energy is oil and gas.
Name
Stephen Zettel
Organization/Affiliation
Entry Date
August 15, 2022 12:34 pm
Attachment
Comments
I am strongly opposed to construction of the Enbridge Line 5 Tunnel Project. Construction and use of this pipeline tunnel will pose an unacceptable risk to the fresh water supply, the animal and plant life, and the entire marine ecosystem of this part of the Great Lakes. At a time when our future is beginning to move away from dependence on fossil fuels, construction of this pipeline tunnel is short-sighted and its risks far outweigh its benefits.
Name
David Curtis
Organization/Affiliation
none
Entry Date
August 15, 2022 12:17 pm
Attachment
Comments
This pipeline needs to be in a tunnel to protect it from further risk of damage.
Name
Bee Harris
Organization/Affiliation
Entry Date
August 15, 2022 11:18 am
Attachment
Comments
My family and I are completely against the current and proposed line 5 pipeline. The current pipeline that is already there has had numerous leaks and other issues over the years and should Never have been put in place to begin with.
I see the state of Michigan shutting down line 5 completely for the health of the Great Lakes and the people of Michigan whose whole community deserve clean protected water. We do not want oil and pollution running through the veins of Michigans natural waters. We can choose another way this time and show respect to ourselves, the land and the water by shutting down this project now. During a time of global droughts and lack of fresh water why would Michigan choose to put its precious fresh water at stake even more. It is 2022 and time for this harm to Stop! The only project that should be invested in is stopping the flow of the line 5 pipeline oil immediately and the removal of all the line 5 pipeline from the Great Lakes and from Michigan completely. My family has lived in Michigan for generations and agree that the line 5 pipeline is unwanted here, unnecessary and needs to be shut down now. Thank You.
I see the state of Michigan shutting down line 5 completely for the health of the Great Lakes and the people of Michigan whose whole community deserve clean protected water. We do not want oil and pollution running through the veins of Michigans natural waters. We can choose another way this time and show respect to ourselves, the land and the water by shutting down this project now. During a time of global droughts and lack of fresh water why would Michigan choose to put its precious fresh water at stake even more. It is 2022 and time for this harm to Stop! The only project that should be invested in is stopping the flow of the line 5 pipeline oil immediately and the removal of all the line 5 pipeline from the Great Lakes and from Michigan completely. My family has lived in Michigan for generations and agree that the line 5 pipeline is unwanted here, unnecessary and needs to be shut down now. Thank You.
Name
MaryAnne Hoebeke
Organization/Affiliation
Entry Date
August 15, 2022 10:40 am
Attachment
Comments
No. No. A thousand times no.
Name
Loren Clift
Organization/Affiliation
Democratic socialist
Entry Date
August 15, 2022 10:39 am
Attachment
Comments
The need for tar sands oil in the US is insignificant compared to its potential benefits. The Great Lakes are one of the greatest reservoirs of fresh water in the world, if it were to be poisoned from a break in the current or purposed line 5, the power that our country would continent would be downgraded If Embridge oil wishes to bring there oil let them run a pipeline through Ontario, not over the Great Lakes and through Michigan.
Name
Peter Gradoni
Organization/Affiliation
None
Entry Date
August 15, 2022 10:31 am
Attachment
Comments
If we are ever to avoid the worst effects of climate change, we cannot continue to build fossil fuel infrastructure. There should be a freeze on all fossil fuel pipeline projects, and an emphasis on building out renewable energy infrastructure instead.