Supplemental Draft EIS Comments

Doubling down on another pipeline under the Straits feels like clinging to the past. Even with HDD, the risk to one of the most fragile freshwater ecosystems in the world is huge, and every new fossil fuel project locks us deeper into environmental harm. Instead of pouring money into replacement pipelines, we should be investing in renewable energy infrastructure that actually moves us forward, like wind, solar to protect the great lakes!

As a lifelong Michigan resident, outdoor enthusiast, and parks professional, I oppose the HDD Installation Alternative for the Line 5 replacement project in the Straits of Mackinac. HDD is well documented to pose a significant risk of “inadvertent returns,” where drilling fluids escape into surrounding soils or waterbodies. Peer-reviewed studies have reported inadvertent return rates ranging from 5% to over 40%, especially in geologically complex settings like the Straits. Even so-called non-toxic drilling fluids can smother benthic organisms, increase turbidity, and damage critical fish spawning habitat. The Straits’ strong and rapidly shifting currents would spread any release quickly, making containment nearly impossible. This ecosystem also contains culturally significant Tribal resources, unique underwater landforms, and essential spawning grounds for lake whitefish that are highly sensitive to disturbance. My experience managing Michigan’s parks has shown me how even small disruptions to these habitats can be irreversible. HDD also fails to address the larger danger of transporting crude oil through the heart of the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes hold 84% of North America’s surface fresh water, and oil released in cold freshwater is known to degrade slowly and harm fisheries, wetlands, and recreation economies. Although the Applicant claims that technological advances make HDD “feasible,” feasibility does not mean the method is safe or appropriate for this fragile location. The fractured glacial geology beneath the Straits and the pressures required for long-distance drilling still present unacceptable risks. For these reasons, I urge the USACE to reject the HDD Installation Alternative and to pursue solutions that remove the Line 5 oil-transport threat from the Great Lakes entirely.

Dissent.

I’m commenting to say I don’t support the Line 5 tunnel. The Great Lakes are literally the last place we should be gambling with another oil project, especially under the Straits. We’ve already seen spills in this state and how long the damage sticks around. I don’t want to see that happen again.

It also doesn’t make sense to dig a massive tunnel under our freshwater just to move oil that mostly isn’t even for Michigan. The risk is ours and the benefit really isn’t.

I’d rather see us invest in safer, cleaner options instead of doubling down on something that could screw up the water we rely on. So I’m asking you to deny the permit.

I am concerned about the long term environmental effects on the waterways and aquatic populations. Prioritizing oil companies over wind and solar energy will always be baffling, we are running out of time to save our planet.

The Line 5 pipeline is an imminent threat, and building a tunnel to house it is no solution. Construction would destroy wetlands, disrupt aquatic habitats, and perpetuate our reliance on fossil fuels during a critical time for climate action. Worse, the tunnel poses risks of explosion from natural gas liquids, shifting financial liability to Michigan taxpayers for 100 years.

It is not only a threat to Michigan but all states surrounding the Great Lakes Michigan, Huron, and Superior. Accidents Happen ~ Water Flows. Thank You!

I am writing to register my strong opposition to the proposed construction of a massive tunnel beneath the Straits of Mackinac to house the Line 5 oil pipeline. This project poses unacceptable risks to the largest connected freshwater system on Earth, threatens ecologically sensitive and culturally significant lands, and locks Michigan into decades more reliance on fossil fuels at a time when urgent transition is required.

The company pursuing this project is the same entity responsible for the catastrophic Kalamazoo River oil spill—one of the largest inland oil spills in U.S. history. That disaster demonstrated the severe consequences of pipeline failure, the long-term ecological damage that follows, and the company’s inadequate safety record. Granting this company permission to drill horizontally through delicate ecosystems and beneath a critical freshwater resource is irresponsible and dangerous.

The Straits of Mackinac are an extraordinarily high-risk location for any oil infrastructure. The Great Lakes contain roughly 20% of the world’s surface freshwater and provide drinking water, fisheries, recreation, cultural resources, and economic stability for millions of people. A failure in the proposed tunnel—whether during construction or future operation—could have irreversible consequences. The geology beneath the Straits is complex, fragile, and not fully understood; the risks of tunneling through it cannot be overstated.

Additionally, the proposed route crosses and impacts land that is culturally and spiritually important to Indigenous nations. Proceeding with this construction without their full consent continues a long history of disregarding Indigenous sovereignty, traditional ecological knowledge, and treaty-protected rights. The Army Corps has a legal and moral obligation to consider these impacts with the seriousness they deserve.

From a broader policy perspective, the project is fundamentally at odds with national and global climate commitments. Line 5 primarily transports Canadian oil through Michigan so it can be refined and used largely in Canada—not for the benefit of the people of Michigan. Approving this tunnel would extend the lifespan of fossil fuel infrastructure for many decades, despite the fact that the continued use of oil is directly responsible for the approximately 2°F of global warming since the mid-1800s. At a time when we must be accelerating the transition to cleaner, safer energy, this project would instead deepen our dependency on the very fuels driving climate instability.

Given the company’s track record, the unacceptable environmental and cultural risks, the lack of direct benefit to Michigan residents, and the project’s incompatibility with climate goals, I urge the Army Corps of Engineers to deny the permit for the Line 5 tunnel project.

Protecting the Great Lakes and the communities who depend on them must take precedence over the interests of a foreign oil company. I respectfully request that the Corps choose the path that safeguards our water, honors Indigenous rights, and advances a sustainable energy future.

I strongly oppose the need to construct a new pipeline running under the Mackinac straits. This project, I believe, is a depreciated approach to the future of energy use in the United States. The risk far outweighs the reward and there is only a matter of time before a breach in the infrastructure occurs and damages the surround ecosystem and freshwater. This project is outdated and fails to highlight the need to focus our resources on alternative and sustainable energy sources.

I’m disturbed by the prospect of the oil company that’s responsible for the Kalamazoo River Oil Spill drilling a giant tunnel horizontally underneath the straits of Mackinac, through sensitive ecosysems, through culturally important indigenous land, and underneath the largest continuous freshwater body on the Earth’s surface to house a pipeline transporting Canadian oil through Michigan to be used primarily in Canada and locking our region into decades more of reliance on fossil fuels, rather than pivoting away from the energy source that is directly responsible for 2 degrees Fahrenheit of warming since the mid 1800s, towards renewable and environmentally responsible sources instead. I disagree with the continued use of Line 5 entirely, and fully support a responsible transition to new energy sources before a preventable tragedy occurs that could easily wreak absolutely devastating ecological destruction.

Use that same energy to submit a public comment on the US Army Corps of Engineers website opposing the Line 5 Tunnel before midnight TONIGHT! Link below.

Our Great Lakes watershed is an invaluable habitat to its native flora and fauna that has only just now started to recover from prior industrial pollution, in part due to the careful and laborious work of officials, experts, and volunteers. It is among the highest ranks of what provides Michigan its spirit, beauty, and quality of life to those of us who get to enjoy it in a daily basis, and while you cannot place the value of natural beauty, maritime merriment, and the lives of our native fauna in mere economic terms, the tourists and sportsmen who flock here for it certainly bring in revenue. Risking that to disrupt our communities, commutes, and lifestyles at no clear benefit to Michiganders would be a morally bankrupt mistake.