Leaders in Michigan rally against pipeline tunnel
Enbridge project cuts through Anishinaabe ancestral sites
From potentially polluting the Great Lakes to disturbing significant cultural resources, the concerns around the Line 5 tunnel project through the Straits of Mackinac run deep. In Lansing, Michigan on Aug. 26, advocates from the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians and the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe rallied to shut down a new tunnel under an existing crude oil and natural gas pipeline.
The project ostensibly aims to mitigate risks related to the active Line 5 pipeline sustaining an oil spill and suffering anchor strikes — two problems that developer Enbridge has already encountered in the region, Michigan Advance’s Kyle Davidson reported.
Opponents who worry about the latest developments between the state and the developer cited the need to dig up Anishinaabe ancestral remains if the tunnel moves forward. And the 23 gallons of hazardous material flowing through the pipeline each day could wreak major damage on the Great Lakes.
Enbridge’s Cultural Resources Mitigation and Monitoring Plan is due to the Michigan Office of the Environment, Great Lakes and Energy by Dec. 31, 2026.
- 1.Tribal leaders, clean water advocates rally in Lansing as Line 5 fight intensifies. Michigan Advance, .
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