Search Results for: Line 5

Line 5’s Clock is Ticking Ever Louder in the Great Lakes

The following op-ed by FLOW Executive Director Liz Kirkwood appeared in the Traverse City Record-Eagle on November 3: We at FLOW agree, “The clock is ticking.” That “tick, tick, tick” sound, however, isn’t coming from Enbridge’s proposed tunnel. It is coming from an environmental ticking time bomb called Line 5—Enbridge’s twin pipelines pumping oil nearly 20 years past their intended lifespan in raging currents at the bottom of the Straits of Mackinac.

Why Do Canadians Seem to Care So Little about Protecting the Great Lakes from Line 5?

If the Great Lakes are so important to Canadians, why do they seem to care so little about protecting them? Specifically, I’m talking about Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline. Line 5 is a ticking time bomb, especially at the Straits, where Enbridge is proposing a tunnel for this decaying and dangerous dual pipeline—but if you read the fine print, it will take a decade to build and taxpayers will be on the hook for the risky endeavor.

Coordinated Cross-Border Protests Call on Canada to Support Line 5 Shutdown

More than 40 protestors assembled on the Detroit Riverwalk Wednesday morning to call on the Canadian government to support Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in seeking to decommission the Enbridge Line 5 oil pipelines in the Straits of Mackinac. The Detroit protest—staged near the Canadian consulate—occurred in solidarity with simultaneous demonstrations across the Detroit River in Windsor, Ontario, as well as in Chicago and Milwaukee. At each protest site, organizers sent Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau jars of fresh Great Lakes water as a symbol of what’s at risk if Line 5 continues to operate.

Line 5 Oil Tunnel: U.S. Army Corps Environmental Study Marks a Return to the Rule of Law

In recognition of the critical importance of the Great Lakes and the rule of law, citizens and communities battling the existential threat of climate change won an important victory when the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) announced June 23 they will conduct an environmental impact statement (EIS) for Enbridge’s proposed Line 5 oil tunnel.

Remember When Line 5 Shut Down a Year Ago, and None of Enbridge’s Doomsaying Came True?

Dire Straits: A damaged portion of Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac shown in this June 2020 photo provided to the State of Michigan by Enbridge. By Nora Baty Do you remember the last time Line 5 shut down? This week marks the one-year anniversary of Line 5’s closure following significant damage to an… line-5-shut-down-a-year-ago-and-none-of-enbridges-doomsaying-came-true/" title="ReadRemember When Line 5 Shut Down a Year Ago, and None of Enbridge’s Doomsaying Came True?”>Read more »

Fact Check: When Line 5 Shuts Down, Detroit Jets Will Still Fly and Union Refinery Jobs Will Still Exist

Line 5-owner Enbridge and its enablers continue to engage in a Chicken Little “sky is falling” campaign, with the Canadian company claiming that, “shutting down Line 5 would cause shortages of crude oil for refineries in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and eastern Canada, as well as propane shortages in northern Michigan. In fact, none of Enbridge’s predictions of an energy shortage materialized when both legs of the dual Line 5 pipelines in the Straits were shut down for more than a week in June 2020 and one leg remained closed until about mid-September following damage that the U.S. Coast Guard said likely was caused by an Enbridge-contracted vessel. The research results are consistent with these studies forecasting little, if any, change in energy costs after Line 5 shuts down for good.

Eviction Day for Enbridge Line 5

May 13 marked an inflection point in our water and climate work to shut down Line 5. It was a day of action and a show of force to evict Enbridge as a foreigner occupier—a rogue pipeline company pumping oil through our public waters and lands of the Great Lakes. It was a day highlighting the power of community and solidarity and the power of indigenous leadership in protecting the source of all life: water.

Defying Today’s State Deadline to Shut Down Line 5, Enbridge Is Risking the Great Lakes and Privatizing the Public Trust

The following is a media release issued by FLOW on May 12, 2021. In refusing to shut down Line 5 by the state-ordered deadline today, Enbridge is flatly rejecting the authority of the State of Michigan to regulate and safeguard its own public trust waters and bottomlands —the very same state authority that Enbridge has… deadline-to-shut-down-line-5-enbridge-is-risking-the-great-lakes-and-privatizing-the-public-trust/" title="ReadDefying Today’s State Deadline to Shut Down Line 5, Enbridge Is Risking the Great Lakes and Privatizing the Public Trust”>Read more »

Reckless and Defiant, Enbridge Won’t Defuse Its ‘Ticking Time Bomb’ in the Great Lakes at Today’s Deadline to Shut Down Line 5

Despite the well-documented and lasting economic and ecological harm of oil pipeline disasters across the globe, we are witnessing intense, orchestrated opposition from Canada’s Enbridge and its allies to shutting down a clear-and-present danger to Michigan’s waters and way of life. A Line 5 oil spill would be an unprecedented ecological and economic disaster in the Great Lakes, threatening 84% of North America’s surface fresh water and some 20 percent of the planet’s fresh surface water, devastating coastal communities, and causing billions of dollars of damages to the environment and local and regional economy.

Take it from a Fifth Grader: Shut Down Line 5 Now

The Line 5 pipelines at the Straits of Mackinac—which Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has called on Enbridge to shut down by May 12—pose a multigenerational threat to citizens of the Great Lakes. Take it from Sage, an 11-year-old from Oxford, Michigan, who chose to do her 5th grade final project on Line 5. “My love for the Great Lakes,” Sage opens her essay.