Why Michigan wants to stop Canada’s Enbridge Line 5 pipeline

The standoff has been caused by an old pipeline running across part of the Great Lakes. Many will view the outcome of the Line 5 battle, which supplies energy to the US Midwest & central Canada, as a sign of how North America will balance energy future and environmental commitments.

The Straits of Mackinac is the most controversial part of Line 5’s pipeline, which runs from Superior in Wisconsin to Sarnia, Canada. The waterway is narrow and connects Lake Michigan to Lake Huron, which are two of the most important lakes in the world.

2018 saw the Straits Pipe being damaged by an anchor of a shipping freighter. This brought to the forefront long-standing concerns about possible spillages from environmental activists.

Rick Snyder, the then-Governor for Michigan, reached an agreement with Enbridge Canada to preserve the pipeline and keep it operating. Enbridge, one of the world’s largest pipeline firms, would build a $500m (£411m) tunnel bored through rock below the lakebed in the Straits, to enclose Line 5.

The agreement was intended to end any uncertainty surrounding the safety of the controversial, 69-year-old natural gas and oil pipeline.

Line 5 will be shut down?

Two years later, Governor Gretchen Whitmer was appointed as Mr Snyder’s Democratic successor. She is a long-time critic of Line 5 and ordered that the company cease operations in Straits. Line 5 was effectively shut down. She called it an “unreasonable threat” to the Great Lakes. These lakes are one of the most important sources of freshwater worldwide and a key economic engine in the region.

The ongoing struggle over the fate of the project and the pipeline is not over.

The project’s permits and safety and environmental impact assessments, which could take many years to complete, are still pending. Enbridge has ignored Gov Whitmer’s request to halt the project. This sets up for a long, contentious court battle.

Enbridge states that the pipeline earns it between $1.6 and $2m each day. The Straits have been safe and reliable in its operation for decades, according to Enbridge.

Michigan sued the company in an attempt to enforce the Line 5 shut down. The US Federal Court is currently handling the case.

Enbridge, Calgary has Canada covered

Line 5 is part the Lakehead System, which is a network that transports oil and natural gas from Western Canada to homes and refineries in Michigan and Ohio, Pennsylvania.

Enbridge is the main supplier of crude oil to the Canadian provinces, Ontario and Quebec. Ottawa has been warning of the dangers of a shutdown and has backed Enbridge’s legal defense. It invoked the 1977 Transit Pipelines Treaty.

The treaty guarantees that crude oil can flow between the US & Canada as long as pipelines comply with all rules and regulations. In the event of a dispute, it requires arbitration.

Michigan is supported by 12 federally recognized Anishinaabe tribes, which believe Line 5 poses too great a threat to the Great Lakes.

Line 5: Fears of a ‘ticking bomb’

The waters are of spiritual significance to the tribes who claim they are protected by their Constitutional Treaty Rights.

Whitney Gravelle, President of Bay Mills Indian Community, explains that the Straits of Mackinac form the center of our creation story.

She claimed that they have a right in the territory to hunt, fish, gather and share their harvest “in perpetuity”. Line 5 is a time bomb that could decimate our culture and lifeways.

Many Michiganders consider it a vital fuel supply. It provides 55% state propane needs.

Dan Harrington is the founder of UP Propane. This major supplier of propane in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula north of the Straits of Mackinac is owned by Dan Harrington.

He was concerned that the pipeline might be shut down and arranged an alternate supply route to ensure his 17,000 customers were not affected.

Harrington says, “We actually put into a rail terminal that we aren’t getting any, if very little, propane from Line 5.”

He said that if the facility were to be shut down, “the Midwest will be in a world full of pain”.

Enbridge claims that the Great Lakes tunnel project will “virtually eliminate the possibility of a spillage”, but others disagree.

Richard Kuprewicz is an independent safety expert who was hired by Bay Mills Indian Community to assess the pipeline’s risk of a “catastrophic explosion”. He called it low, but not negligible.

According to Dave Schwab, Great Lakes oceanographer, the consequences of a pipeline rupture could be catastrophic even in the best case scenario.

Line 5 is home to nearly half a million gallons daily of oil and natural gases.

“So even if the oil flow is stopped instantly, which would not be possible, the pipe would still have at least 5,000 barrels,” he stated.

In the best case, 700km (435miles) of shoreline along Lake Huron/Lake Michigan could be affected. “In the worst case, a 25,000 barrel spillage would affect over 1,000km of shoreline both in Canada and America.”

Michigan commissioned an independent risk assessment to determine the potential damage caused by an oil leakage. It estimated that it could result in almost $2bn of damages. Because of the diversity of habitats around the Straits, which is home to many birds and fish, it could “represent an area of no return for species losses”.

Michigan has been exploring options for replacing Line 5, which include pumping stations that increase the flow of Enbridge pipelines and trucking or rail transport. Jonathan Wilkinson Canada’s Minister for Natural Resources stated to the BBC that those options are “less safe and less efficient” and emit more emissions.

Pipelines are generally considered safer than tanker trucks and freight trains for transporting fuel.

Biden is in the news as energy prices rise

Line 5 supporters argue that it is crucial to the state because of the millions of dollars Enbridge spends annually in corporate, property and other taxes. It is also vital to the state’s energy needs.

Enbridge states that there is no viable alternative to tunnel construction and intends to operate Line 5 at Straits through completion of the tunnel.

It stated that the tunnel made what was always a safe pipeline safer and ensured energy access and reliability as well as supporting jobs throughout the Great Lakes Region.

They stated that they also took additional steps to monitor the integrity of the anchor and prevent any future strikes.

Line 5 has spilled more than one million gallons on other sections of the pipeline in its lifetime. Enbridge however states that the Mackinac section crossing Mackinac is “in excellent condition” and has never had a leak.

Biden’s administration has so far kept the dispute at bay, stating that it will allow the current environmental reviews to be completed on the tunnel project.

Heather Exner-Pirot (a Senior Fellow at Macdonald-Laurier Institute), a Canadian think-tank believes Mr Biden won’t allow Line 5 close, particularly after Russia’s invasion in Ukraine. This has had a significant effect on global energy markets and supply.

Ms. Pirot said that the energy crisis had caused the political tides of change to shift in her favor.

This will shock both environmentalists (and tribes) who argue that Line 5 is against the Biden administration’s commitments to green energy.

“Enbridge is speaking economics the universal language,” Liz Kirkwood, FLOW, a non profit conservation group, said. She was referring to the warnings of the firm that a shut down would have immediate effects on the economies of the region.

“What we are referring to is 20% of the planet’s fresh surface water, and the identity of an entire area. This is our home.

Editor’s note: Leana Hosea, a journalist covering protests against Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline in Wisconsin, was arrested in 2017. All criminal charges were dropped.