For Immediate Release
Tuesday, July 23, 2019
Media Contact: Anne Woiwode (517)-974-2112
Sierra Club Responds to Today’s Line 5 Enbridge Lawsuit
LANSING, MI--In response to a lawsuit filed today against Enbridge in Wisconsin, Sierra Club said the potential court-ordered shutdown of Line 5 there means any negotiations for an Enbridge Line 5 oil tunnel in Michigan would only end up increasing the risk of a pipeline rupture in the Great Lakes.
The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa filed suit against Enbridge to force the decommissioning and removal of the Line 5 pipeline from the tribe’s reservation. The action followed two years of failed mediation talks between the tribe and Enbridge and six years of Enbridge’s unauthorized operation of Line 5 following the expiration of its easement agreement the Bad River Band.
“The takeaway from today’s development should be for Governor Gretchen Whitmer to immediately drop any thought of a proposed oil tunnel or other action focused on keeping Line 5 operating in the Great Lakes and as a risk to Michigan,” said Anne Woiwode, Sierra Club Michigan Chapter Chair. “Delay is not our friend and the oil tunnel is not a solution to protecting the Great Lakes and other Michigan waterways from a Line 5 spill.”
Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline in Wisconsin runs across 12 miles of sensitive habitat in the Bad River Reservation. Enbridge has continued to operate the pipeline for six years since easements allowing it to maintain the Reservation right-of-way expired in 2013, and today’s action seeks to bring the company’s unauthorized presence to an end.
“We have seen in Wisconsin how Enbridge has dragged out a lengthy process that left the Bad River watershed at extreme risk from an aged Line 5 pipeline. With so much at stake, Michigan can’t chase Enbridge’s oil tunnel vision because there is no end in sight that protects the Great Lakes, “ said Woiwode. “This only reinforces the need for support of Attorney General Dana Nessel’s legal action to begin the process of decommissioning Line 5 in Michigan.”
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The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.
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Anne Woiwode, chair
Sierra Club Michigan Chapter
Conservation Policy Committee
