Supplemental Draft EIS Comments

This proposal should be blocked as the company involved has a history of unsafe practices and the project risks causing long-lasting cataclysmic damage to the surrounding environments. This company has already engaged in egregious violations of basic safety regulations and caused major widespread ecological damage, including in 2010 when they were responsible for the Kalamazoo River oil spill, which making it the 2nd biggest inland oil spill in United States history. On top of the unquantifiable cost if this harm to our wildlife, this grievous mistake was also a huge waste of resources in terms off labor and capital, being that it took over 10 years and more than $1 billion to clean up the spill. The Line 5 pipeline is already problematic, in that its already been dented, shifted by anchors, and stripped of its protective coatings over years of weathering, and it cuts through extremely sensitive wild areas that are supposed to belong to the Indigenous community whose reservation it resides on. Even aside from this blatant disregard to Indigenous sovereignty, according to University of Michigan News, “researchers have concluded that it is in the worst possible place in the Great Lakes for any pipeline to transit.” If the Line 5 pipe proposed here were to rupture in the Great Lakes, it would cause irreversible contamination to one of our largest sources of freshwater/drinking water at a time where Michigan residents are already acutely aware of how precarious the availability of clean water can be, given the fact that places like Flint and certain areas of Detroit still don’t have access to clean drinking water from their taps. Of course, a crisis like that would disproportionately affect those of lower socioeconomic standing such as the Black and Indigenous civilian communities of low-income status in nearby neighborhoods that can’t afford to import water from sources away from the Great Lakes. Additionally, a rupture of Line 5 in the Great Lakes would no doubt kill vast amounts of wildlife, drastically reducing biodiversity and throwing the whole ecosystem out of balance. Not only would this project be extremely dangerous, but it is completely unnecessary given that Line 5 is not the only possible source of propane for those in the Upper Peninsula. Upper Peninsula Energy Task Force and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer have already provided viable alternative solutions to the reliance on propane in those areas including investment in rail infrastructure and storage, providing heating assistance for families in need to protect consumers from price gouging, and making continual progress towards the overall transition to renewable energy and electrification. In conclusion, this proposal completely disregards Indigenous sovereignty, environmental regulations, and basic common sense and simply is not worth the risk.

I strenuously oppose putting a new pipeline under the straits of Mackinac, particularly by Enbridge. That company has demonstrated its willingness to take shortcuts that jeopardize the environment and have had catastrophic spills in the Kalamazoo River. There are untold risks to the environment should a rupture occur.

Absolutely remove the pipeline to Canadian grounds and out of the largest fresh water system in the world! Our water is not up for negotiation! Oil and water don't mix

I oppose the new alternative. The tunnel should be completely decommissioned.

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.

Additionally, its expired easement means the pipeline is now trespassing across the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa’s reservation.

Do not destroy our precious resource by running pipelines through this land and water.

This attachment is a supporting document to NWF filed comments

This shouldn’t be a hard decision. Fossil foils are causing mass extinction. It’s time to phase out line 5 and transition Michigan to renewable energy. Protect our people and the water.

Please find attached a public comment formally opposing the Enbridge Line 5 Tunnel Project and its Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS), citing procedural and substantive deficiencies which violate NEPA and the APA. The comment explains why the SDEIS is compromised by pre-determined policy bias, includes a "straw man" HDD alternative, and is legally deficient for failing to analyze the Decommissioning (No Action) alternative with energy transition and for deferring the critical analysis of environmental impacts to the Record of Decision. The authors request the USACE withdraw the SDEIS, revise and re-issue it with complete analysis, and extend the public comment period to 45 days.

I listened to the public comment session on December 3, 2025. I share many of the concerns expressed by others at that session, including: concern for Enbridge’s responsible stewardship; Enbridge’s past breaches of public trust related to Line 3 as well as Line 5; the failure to study carefully the environmental impact of HDD in the Great Lakes; the discharge of millions of gallons of wastewater into the Great Lakes; the disregard for treaties with tribal nations; the need to reduce fossil fuel use and avoid new infrastructure in order to mitigate climate change; and Michigan taxpayers’ liability for damages, if and when the Line 5 pipeline, oil tunnel, or HDD tunnel fails.

I’d like to express a cultural concern in this comment. My perspective is that of a student of American Cultures, with a Masters’ degree in American Cultures from the University of Michigan. I do not claim to speak for Indigenous people. But as a white European American, I want to plead for the preservation of the Straits of Mackinac as an important cultural resource that belongs to indigenous peoples of Michigan.

In a recent webinar (“Big Oil vs Big Water: Shutting Down North America’s Most Dangerous Oil Pipeline”) President Whitney Gravelle of the Bay Mills Indian Community spoke of the spiritual significance of the Straits. The Straits hold particular significance in indigenous myth. President Gravelle shared that the Great Lakes are the heart of the turtle that is Turtle Island (North America).

The knowledge encapsulated in this beautiful cultural understanding of the lakes and the Straits is underlined by modern science. The waters and currents of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron flow back and forth under the Straits, reversing direction between the two lakes every one to two days (see https://www.glerl.noaa.gov/res/straits/). Indeed, the two lakes are considered one lake hydrologically (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_MichiganHuron). The action of the waters is very much like a heart pumping, with Lakes Michigan and Huron acting as two chambers of one heart (https://www.glerl.noaa.gov/res/straits/graphics/surface.gif).

Enbridge and its advocates believe the continuation of Line 5 will create more economic benefit than environmental or other harm. However, the indigenous story of the Great Lakes makes very clear the horrific scale of desecration of the proposed oil tunnel, whether using HDD or not, to be drilled beneath the lake bed at the Straits. Leaving aside the environmental damage and dangerous risks of the Enbridge project, any tunnel would be a stake driven deep into the sacred heart of the land called Turtle Island (North America).

It is past time we listen to our indigenous neighbors with respect, honor their treaty rights, and preserve their cultural and ceremonial expression (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_on_the_Rights_of_Indigenous_Peoples).

Thank you. Miigwech.