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Protestors paddle next to the Mackinac Bridge at the Pipe Out Paddle Up Flotilla Against the Line 5 pipeline in Mackinaw City, Michigan. (Sarah Rice for Earthjustice)
Press Release April 12, 2024

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

Parties point to key evidence excluded in the MPSC case

document April 11, 2024

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.

The Bad and White rivers flow through the Bad River Reservation and into Lake Superior in northern Wisconsin. Enbridge's Line 5 pipeline currently crosses both rivers and threatens the Bad River watershed and reservation. (Jaida Grey Eagle for Earthjustice)
Press Release April 10, 2024

Line 5 Pipeline: Tribal Groups Respond to DOJ’s Amicus Brief

Biden administration agrees that Enbridge is trespassing on Bad River Band Reservation

In the News: The New York Times April 10, 2024

An Oil Company Is Trespassing on Tribal Land in Wisconsin, Justice Dept. Says

Debbie Chizewer, Managing Attorney, Midwest Office: “The courts passed the mic to the U.S., and the U.S. handed the mic right back to the courts.”

Former Bad River Tribal Chairman Mike Wiggins Jr. at the Tribe's reservation in Wisconsin where Enbridge's Line 5 pipeline crosses.
(Jaida Grey Eagle for Earthjustice)
Press Release February 28, 2024

30 Tribal Nations Ask Biden Administration to Condemn Canadian Pipeline Trespass

Enbridge has earned over $1 billion by trespassing on the Bad River Band’s reservation.

document February 27, 2024

Tribal Nations’ Letter to Biden Admin re Line 5 and Tribal Sovereignty

A letter from more than 30 Tribal Nations in the Great Lakes region sent to President Joe Biden urging the United States to speak out against the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline’s trespass on the Bad River Band’s land.

In the News: Inside Climate News February 20, 2024

Enbridge Wants Line 5 Shutdown Order Overturned on Tribal Land in Northern Wisconsin

Debbie Chizewer, Managing Attorney, Midwest Office: “It would really limit the ability of state governments and tribal nations and others to protect the interests that have been widely accepted for many years. If you can’t protect your land from a trespass because of the oil pipelines, what’s the point of having your own land?”

document February 16, 2024

Flint Groups Submit Comments to EGLE on Universal Coating

Comments submitted to the Michigan Department of Environment Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) by Earthjustice on behalf of Flint community organizations and individuals opposing Universal Coating’s proposal to add new tumble spray lines at its facility, which will add to the cumulative pollution affecting residents of this environmental justice community.

The EES Coke Battery facility on Zug Island in River Rouge, Michigan. The plant is owned by DTE Vantage, a subsidiary of DTE Energy. The EES Coke facility releases thousands of tons of sulfur dioxide in the overburdened River Rouge community and near the state’s most polluted zip code, 48217. (Ted Auch / FracTracker Alliance)..
Press Release January 17, 2024

Health Experts Demand EPA Reduce Ozone Pollution in Detroit

Earthjustice files amicus brief on behalf of two Michigan groups

document January 16, 2024

Health Experts’ 6th Circuit Amicus Brief on EPA Ozone Decision in Detroit

Michigan Clinicians for Climate Action (MiCCA) and MI Air MI Health (MAMH) are asking the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn the EPA’s decision to designate Detroit as in “attainment” of federal ozone standards.

In the News: ABC12 January 2, 2024

Michigan regulators say emissions from Ajax plant meet standards

John Petoskey, Attorney, Midwest Office: “EGLE needs to do more to ensure that not only that the community knows about pollution, but that pollution in the community is reduced.”

In the News: WLUC January 2, 2024

Great Lakes tribes appeal MPSC permit for Line 5 tunnel project

Christopher Clark, Senior Attorney, Midwest Office: “In the contested case, we had a tunneling expert and a pipeline safety expert raise significant safety concerns about this tunnel. The concern is that there would be a leak of product within the enclosed tunnel that would create an explosive environment underneath the Straits of Mackinac, which just…

The Pipe Out Paddle Up Floatilla Against the Line 5 pipeline in Mackinaw City, Michigan, on Sept. 3, 2022. (David Ruck for Earthjustice)
Press Release December 22, 2023

Statement: Four Michigan Tribes Appeal Line 5 Tunnel Permit

Enbridge’s proposed tunnel project is opposed by Tribes, businesses, and environmental groups.

Earthjustice attorneys and community partners look at the site plan for the Ajax asphalt plant sited in the Dort-Carpenter Industrial Park during a meeting at St. Francis Prayer Center on May 10, 2022, in Flint, Michigan. (Sylvia Jarrus for Earthjustice)
Press Release December 12, 2023

Flint Groups Welcome Federal Action Against RJ Torching

The scrapyard violated emissions limits in a community already facing many harmful sources of air pollution

Protestors paddle next to the Mackinac Bridge at the Pipe Out Paddle Up Flotilla Against the Line 5 pipeline in Mackinaw City, Michigan. (Sarah Rice for Earthjustice)
Press Release December 1, 2023

Michigan Approves Permit for Disastrous Line 5 Oil Tunnel Under Great Lakes

Bay Mills Indian Community condemns decision by Michigan Public Service Commission

Whitney Gravelle, the president of the Bay Mills Indian Community, photographed in Mackinaw City, Michigan, near where the Line 5 pipeline runs under the Straits of Mackinac. (Sarah Rice for Earthjustice)
Press Release September 25, 2023

Over 60 Tribal Nations Side with AG Nessel in Line 5 Lawsuit

Amicus brief asks 6th Circuit Court of Appeals to remand Nessel v. Enbridge to state court

document September 25, 2023

Nessel v. Enbridge 6th Circuit Amicus Brief

Over 60 Tribal Nations represented by Earthjustice and NARF ask 6th Circuit Court of Appeals to remand Nessel v. Enbridge to state court.

Canoeing the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Northern Minnesota. (Brad Zweerink / Earthjustice)
Press Release: Victory September 7, 2023

Judge Tosses Twin Metals Lawsuit, Halting Mine’s Threat to Boundary Waters

The federal court sided with government and with intervenors represented by Earthjustice