Supplemental Draft EIS Comments

In regards to the back and forth proposals for Michigan Line 5 it has come to my attention that a new/old proposal, horizonal drilling, has been suggested. This proposal, though sounds plausible, continues the use of the pipeline and continues the probable negative impact if the pipeline were to leak or have damage that a significant spill occurs. If the pipeline were shut down and therefore no longer in use, the impacts are significantly reduced. As a person who lives on the shore of Lake Michigan I know the benefits from this fresh water reserve, a very necessary piece in our changing climate. In the coming months and years climate change will continue to significantly impact our great lakes. It is imperative we do all we can to protect them.
Taking proactive measures and shutting down the pipeline is the only way we can assure our water in the great lakes stays safe.
Shut down Michigan pipeline 5.
Thank you.
Cindy Mason
Onekama Michigan

I'm writing to share my opposition of the Line 5 oil pipeline project. This is an environmental disaster waiting to happen. The company behind Line 5, Enbridge, has a history of drilling accidents and spills. If something goes wrong under the Straits, oil could spread quickly into two Great Lakes at once. And Michigan taxpayers — not the company — would be left with the damage. Do not do this!!!

I am opposing the USACE Supplemental Draft EIS to evaluate an alternative to the Applicant’s Preferred Alternative involving installation of a replacement pipeline segment under the bed of the Straits of Mackinac by horizontal directional drilling (HDD) (the HDD Installation Alternative). The great lakes a offer a water supply that will likely be necessary as global warming continues . We should preserve it at any cost . We should not take any steps that might negatively affect this water.

We do not want drilling under the Great Lakes!

I am opposed to the alternative plan presented by Enbridge to drill under the Straits of Mackinaw. I have lived in communities in Michigan and Illinois near Lake Michigan all of my life. I understand how vital this vast body of water and adjacent Great Lakes are to citizens of the region. These Lakes provide major routes for the transport of goods to the midwest and Canada, and water for agriculture, hydroelectric power, and drinking. They sustain commercial and recreational industries as well as tourism for border states. Climate change and human generated pollution are already impacting water levels and quality of the Great Lakes and many communities have invested significantly in improving and protecting these unique natural resources. The benefits of drilling DO NOT outweigh the colossal risks of irreparable damage to the Lakes and the industries, livelihoods, and communities that depend on them.
Please do not allow access for drilling under the Straits of Mackinaw.

This is a bait and switch by Enbridge and the Army Corps of Engineers, after focusing on the tunnel for years. Enbridge cannot safely perform horizontal directional drilling in the Straits of Mackinac. Their track record of frac-outs in their Line 3 expansion project demonstrates this. This project still forces Michigan taxpayers to carry all the risk for a foreign corporation.

I live in Chicago, at the edge of Lake Michigan, and since 2019 I have been one of the many volunteers who watched over the critically endangered piping plovers that have nested here again after an absence of many decades. Our local efforts are part of a regional effort to restore this population. We have grown the population but not enough to secure their continued existence--from 12 nests when we started to 88 in summer 2025. This pipeline represents the kind of intervention in the Great Lakes region that has nearly driven these birds, and so many other species, to extinction. Furthermore, we should not be investing in energy sources that are destroying our planet, but instead in those which allow us to meet our own needs while guaranteeing that we can still live in our own habitats.

I grew up in Ohio, enjoying Lake Erie, and learning about the necessity of the Great lakes for our local environment and economy. Living in Michigan and Illinois as an adult, I've also enjoyed Lakes Michigan and Huron. These are vital parts of the Midwest experience. We grow up knowing about fresh water sources, the animals they support, the migrations of birds that travel to them, all the different types of wetlands that develop inland of them, and the many ways our families survive with them.

These lakes support our food chain. Not just by the fish and other wildlife we gather from them for our tables, but by the jobs provided to do the gathering. They support our way of life by providing recreation options of camping, hiking, boating, swimming, fishing, and so much more. And again, the jobs required to keep our lakes and parks clean, well tended, available for tourism, and beyond that all the scientific research done at colleges and universities. All these things keep our communities thriving, bring in federal funding for our schools and parks, and provide a rich environment for our kids to grow up in.

Putting a pipeline of oil underneath such a major source of our fresh water, and the economic livelihood of so many citizens is reckless and short cited. We know the devastation caused by oil spills. And here in the Great lakes, there is nowhere for it to dissipate. Everything trapped in the water will die. The excess will fill up our shores. Jobs for fishing, recreation, tourism all gone. Fresh water will become a commodity bought, and shipped in from other places. The cost, on top of a lack of income, will hurt everyone, but especially the low income houses, those unhoused, and those furthest from where it's being sourced.

Thinking of using horizontal drilling to put in the pipeline is even worse. Now, there is no tunnel, with supports, and an appropriate amount of space for repairs and maintenance. Now, you will devastate an even larger piece of land around the opening to build the entire pipe above ground. Now, you have an increased chance of cave ins, before the pipe makes it all the way through. Then what happens?

If there's a cave in while feeding the pipe, if there's a leak at any time it's in operation, you have to dig an entirely new hole to get in and make repairs. Each dog site devastates more environments, disrupts more communities. This is not a sound option.

I urge you to find somewhere to put this pipeline that will not endanger our water sources, these communities surrounding them, or our food supplies. I also request, if it must be built, that it's done in a way that mitigates environmental impact. And, please, design it so maintenance is a priority, and easily managed. That's the only way to minimize the chances of an oil leak somewhere down the line.

The Line 5 drilling plan absolutely cannot move forward. Enbridge has shown they cannot be trusted to execute these projects safely. A drilling accident would immediately affect two Great Lakes, and residents would be left to deal with the financial and ecological aftermath. STOP LINE 5 IMMEDIATELY.

I ask the Army Corps to continue to reject the application of Enbridge to drill and move product under the Straits of Michigan. Respectfully, there is no "new" or current technology that can guarantee a spillless outcome. Lake Huron and Lake Michigan provide precious water to millions. As a past government employee, I frequently had to weigh cost/risk vs benefit. To put a single company's profit over the needs of millions does not constitute an effective cost-benefit risk. A tunnel under the straits, possibly......a pipeline, a hard NO!