LAKE SUPERIOR, Mich. — Michigan’s attorney general pushed once again for a shutdown of Enbridge’s Line 5, an oil pipeline shuttling millions of gallons of oil under the Straits of Mackinac, saying Line 5
poses an environmental hazard to the Great Lakes.
READ: Michigan has more than 100,000 miles of pipelines— here's what they do
On Wednesday, Attorney General Dana Nessel urged a Wisconsin federal court to take emergency action against the pipeline, filing an amicus brief in support of the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians of the Bad River Reservation.
The band filed an emergency motion last week, asking for an emergency shutdown, according to a release from the Attorney General’s office. Nessel reinforced the motion by officially asking the Wisconsin court to “protect Lake Superior from an imminent threat.”
In her release, Nessel argues the pipeline’s potential for disaster has only risen with the waters of the Bad River.
The increased water levels of the Bad River in northern Wisconsin has triggered “extreme erosion,” the attorney general said, with one site losing over 10 feet of bank in one week and others whittled down to a 11-foot margin between the bank and the pipeline.
“If the bank continues to erode and the water reaches the pipeline, the pipeline will be vulnerable to rupture due to the force of currents, debris strikes, or erosion of the ground beneath the pipeline leaving it suspended without adequate support,” writes Nessel.
The risk, she says, is the release of oil and natural gas liquids into the Bad River, which flows straight into Lake Superior.
Nessel asks the Wisconsin court to consider how Michigan’s residents and natural resources would be affected, should the pipeline break. “The risk of a rupture outweighs any risk posed by a shutdown,” she writes.
“Lake Superior is a priceless natural and cultural resource and, like all the Great Lakes, it is vital to our way of life in Michigan,” Nessel said. “As Attorney General, I owe a duty to the people of Michigan to protect all of Michigan’s waters, not only for us today, but also for future generations. I will always do everything in my power to protect the Great Lakes from the threat posed by those who care more about their bottom line than about Michigan’s residents and natural resources.”
This is not the first time the attorney general has taken a legal stand against Line 5, which was built and granted an easement in 1953.
Back in 2019, Nessel sued Enbridge, a Canadian-based company, to shut down the pipeline. Her lawsuit involved voiding the 1953 easement. She sued again in 2020 to support Governer Whitmer’s order to shut down the pipeline due to environmental concerns after a support anchor shifted.
In response, Enbridge has backed the safety of Line 5. No formal decisions have yet been made in the legal cases against Enbridge.
MORE: Enbridge to continue Line 5 operations past Governor Whitmer's shutdown orders
