Cases

Line 5 Pipeline: Michigan Tunnel

Line 5 crosses more than 280 rivers and streams, many of which are interconnected and flow to the Great Lakes and the Straits of Mackinac, and throughout which Bay Mills has treaty-protected fishing, hunting, and gathering rights. The Great Lakes are the largest source of surface fresh water in the world, supplying drinking water for 48 million people.

Clients

Bay Mills Indian Community

Attorneys

Mary RockDebbie ChizewerGussie LordAdam RatchenskiStefanie Tsosie

Regional Office / Program

Midwest OfficeTribal Partnerships Program

Case Overview

Earthjustice, in partnership with the Native American Rights Fund, represents the Bay Mills Indian Community in the Tribal Nation’s fight to protect the Straits and the Tribe’s treaty rights throughout waters in Michigan.

In 2020, Bay Mills Indian Community became the first Tribal nation to intervene in a proceeding before the Michigan Public Service Commission to contest Enbridge’s proposal to build and reroute the Line 5 oil pipeline with a tunnel in the Straits of Mackinac, a 4-mile-wide waterway that connects Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.

The Public Service Commission is one of the agencies that will determine whether Enbridge can build a massive tunnel to house a new segment of its Line 5 pipeline.

In 2010, Enbridge was responsible for the largest inland oil spill in our nation’s history when another of its pipelines (Line 6B) released nearly one million gallons of oil into Michigan’s Kalamazoo River.

In a related case, the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa is challenging the environmental review of a plan by Enbridge Energy to relocate part of the Line 5 pipeline where it runs through the Bad River watershed. Earthjustice is representing the Bad River Band in its legal fight.

Bob Gravelle, Bay Mills Tribal citizen, fishes on Spectacle Lake in Bay Mills.
Bob Gravelle, Bay Mills Tribal citizen, fishes on Spectacle Lake in Bay Mills. (Whitney Gravelle)

Case Updates

Canoes and kayaks on the lake next to a larger bridge, holding a sign that says Evict Enbridge.
July 11, 2024 Article

The Great Lakes Are Under Threat

The Line 5 pipeline has already leaked over 1 million gallons of oil to date and threatens the Great Lakes. Now, the company behind it is proposing a dangerous reroute project.

Canoes and kayaks on the lake next to a larger bridge, holding a sign that says Evict Enbridge.
April 12, 2024 Press Release

Michigan Tribes, Green Groups Ask Court to Overturn Line 5 Tunnel Permit

Parties point to key evidence excluded in the MPSC case

April 11, 2024 document

Line 5 Tunnel Challenge: Tribal Brief

A brief submitted by four Tribal Nations asking the Michigan Court of Appeals to overturn the Michigan Public Service Commission’s (MPSC’s) recent approval for Canadian oil giant Enbridge to build the Line 5 tunnel project beneath the Straits of Mackinac.

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Case page created on April 16, 2021.