Tribes Blow Whistle on Line 5 Tunnel Federal Fast-Tracking

Six Michigan Tribes withdrew from Line 5 federal discussions after learning that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will likely fast-track its approval for Enbridge’s massive oil tunnel project, in accordance with President Trump’s Executive Order declaring an “energy emergency.” In a letter sent to the U.S. Army Corps on Friday, the Tribes called the Corps’ actions “unacceptable.”

“We participated in the process, we followed the rules, we provided the case law, we submitted the evidence, and we trusted that our voices and our treaty rights would be respected. Yet, once again, the federal government has cast us aside and failed us,” said Bay Mills Indian Community President Whitney Gravelle. “Instead of protecting our waters, lands, and sacred sites, the government is forcing this dangerous project forward, ignoring the harm it will bring to the Tribal Nations and the people of Michigan. We will not stand by while our sovereignty is disregarded for the sake of foreign profits. Michigan’s leaders must act now to defend our shared waters before it’s too late.”

The Bay Mills Indian Community, Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi, and Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi had been engaging with the Corps’ review of the Line 5 tunnel project as “cooperating agencies” under the National Environmental Policy Act.

Under the Biden administration, the Corps was preparing a draft Environmental Impact Statement after receiving over 17,000 public comments on the tunnel project. An internal memo circulated in January by Former Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) Jaime Pinkham directed the agency to assess the risk of oil spills from approving the tunnel project, and to consider other alternatives in its review. Now, the Corps is likely to apply emergency treatment and issue a permit for the tunnel project, without completing reviews of oil spills and other environmental impacts, alternatives, and effects on cultural resources.

“It appears the U.S. Army Corps plans to short-circuit the environmental and historic properties review by announcing they intend to use the guise of an American ‘energy emergency’ to fast-track the legally required public comment and Tribal consultation processes, greenlighting a Canadian corporation’s project that will desecrate a sacred place and threaten Great Lakes residents’ drinking water,” said Senior Staff Attorney David L. Gover with the Native American Rights Fund (NARF), which represents the Tribes.

Experts have warned that the tunnel project design, which has never been tried before anywhere else in the world, could lead to an explosion under the Straits. Along with federal approval, Enbridge still needs a permit from Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy to begin construction. A public comment period is expected as part of that permitting process.

“Resuscitating an old pipeline that carries most of its oil and gas back to Canada won’t do a thing for the U.S. energy supply,” said Earthjustice Managing Attorney Debbie Chizewer, who is representing Bay Mills. “But it might lead to the next big oil disaster. Only this time, it will happen in the middle of the largest freshwater drinking supply in North America. We can’t allow that to happen.”