Contact the Mackinac Bridge Authority

READ THE TROUBLING FACTS surrounding the Synder-Enbridge oil tunnel deal.

Enbridge and Michigan's Governor made a backroom deal to explore build a tunnel in the Straits of Mackinac that would keep Canadian oil flowing through the Great Lakes for at least 7 to 10 more years, if not forever. The deal would also put the Mackinac Bridge Authority and Michigan taxpayers at financial risk.

We have questions. You probably do too.

On November 8 in St. Ignace, Enbridge will pitch its tunnel proposal to members of the bridge authority for the first time. Gov. Snyder wants the bridge authority to own Enbridge’s tunnel, marking the first time since the authority was created in 1950 that its sole mission of maintaining and operating the Mighty Mac would be compromised.

Let the Mackinac Bridge Authority know your thoughts about this proposed tunnel for Canadian oil

Bridge authority members are inviting questions from the public, which is great. The bridge authority was not asked in advance by the Snyder administration to be part of this mess, so we encourage you to respectfully email authority Secretary Bob Sweeney with your questions.

Click to compose an email to Bob Sweeney or copy his address: [email protected]

Here are some questions you may choose to ask the bridge authority (feel free to copy & paste):

Why should the bridge authority own the risky tunnel and be saddled with Enbridge through a 99-year lease, especially given Enbridge’s horrible track record in Michigan?

Why should the bridge authority assume financial risk in the event of a tunnel collapse and pipeline rupture for a private Canadian oil company when most of the oil in Enbridge’s Line 5 is for Canada’s use?

The agreement between Enbridge and Gov. Snyder would only provide $1.88 billion in financial pledges from Enbridge in the case of major damages when economists estimate the cost of a worst-case spill could reach $6.3 billion. Why should the bridge authority potentially put the financial health of the Mackinac Bridge at risk by taking responsibility for Enbridge’s oil tunnel?

Why is the administration considering bypassing a thorough environmental review of the Snyder-Enbridge oil tunnel under the Great Lakes Submerged Lands Act instead of looking at better alternatives which include decommissioning Line 5 now?

Once you send your email let us know by reporting it below. We also invite you to attend the November 8th meeting where Enbridge will present their oil tunnel plan to the Mackinac Bridge Authority. RSVP Here.

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Melissa Mclaury Freye endorsed 2018-10-16 11:31:48 -0400
@sssmeath tweeted link to this page. 2018-10-16 11:29:40 -0400
Send an email to the Mackinac Bridge Authority before Gov. Snyder and Enbridge get their way to build a tunnel under the Great Lakes for Canadian oil. https://www.oilandwaterdontmix.org/contact_the_mackinac_bridge_authority?recruiter_id=61485
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Lu Thrushman endorsed 2018-10-16 11:29:15 -0400
Stephanie Meath endorsed 2018-10-16 11:28:56 -0400
Tom Baker endorsed 2018-10-16 11:27:42 -0400
Laura Landolt endorsed 2018-10-16 11:26:20 -0400
Charles Tazzia endorsed 2018-10-16 11:23:50 -0400
Jan Mrozinski endorsed 2018-10-16 11:18:43 -0400
Jane Lean endorsed 2018-10-16 11:18:08 -0400

Please do not allow this tunnel under the Straits to be built. There are many reasons not to allow Enbridge to continue to ship dirty oil under the great lakes, but the idea of shipping it in a larger tunnel with electrical wires and other conduits appalls me. Also no amount of money could fix the problem of contaminating a huge proportion of the fresh potable water of the WORLD, should any break at all occur in the pipeline. But if you need to think about costs and benefits, you need to realize they have not set aside enough money to guarantee anywhere near enough resources to fight a serious spill or disruption. But re. costs and benefits: by the time the pipeline is done, other sources of energy than the sludge shipped through the pipeline will have become much less expensive to use, and the effort will not pay off even in profits for Enbridge or the Canadian Government. Please stop this proposal in its tracks. yours sincerely, Jane Lean
Jimmie Wright endorsed 2018-10-16 11:16:56 -0400
Terri Wilkerson endorsed 2018-10-16 11:16:44 -0400

I asked Mr. Sweeney to live stream the Nov. 8 meeting and told him lots of us living in Southern Michigan were concerned.
Don Van Duren endorsed 2018-10-16 11:14:02 -0400
Janice Arnett endorsed 2018-10-16 11:11:30 -0400

When the oil pipeline under the Great Lakes completely ruptures, much will be said. But life as we know it in the Midwest will be done.

When the deals have been made and some have gotten filthy rich, they will turn tail and run, leaving behind total disaster. Life as we know it will be done.

To ever EVER have put an oil line into the world’s most precious water resource was like taking a healthy child with and an extraordinary future ahead of him and injecting him with toxins so that he lost the use of his limbs, his mind went numb, and he could no longer see. Deliberate. Calculated. Life as he could ever know it was done.

All toxins being run under or into the Great Lakes need to be halted. A line on land while unattractive can also be much more quickly monitored through any season of the year. And, all of us who rail against the horrors of Enbridge need also to look at our own energy use and misuse and make personal changes in our behavior.

Our water resources are our LIFE. Without them, much will be said until people die and then all will be done.

Jan Corey Arnett

Battle Creek, Michigan
Carol Kauzlarich endorsed 2018-10-16 11:08:09 -0400
Judy Deater endorsed 2018-10-16 11:08:06 -0400

THIS TUNNEL IS DANGEROUS AND MUST NOT HAPPEN.
Kimberly and Robert Barrett endorsed 2018-10-16 11:03:57 -0400

This is an outrage and must stop! It is dangerous and we cannot risk polluting the Great Lakes with an oil spill. I support Oil & Water Don’t Mix in an effort to entirely reduce the risk of an oil spill. Please keep our fresh water fresh!!
Helen McCauslin endorsed 2018-10-16 11:00:59 -0400

The risks to the lakes and to the Bridge Authority are too enormous to undertake the tunnel for zen ridge with out a thorough environmental review and a guarantee from enbridg to under write the cost, the entire cost of cleanup in case of a spill. I know whwt the leak of Line 6 did to the lkalamazoo River and its tributaries. Should we risk such a much worse catastrophe in the Straits?
Punisher endorsed 2018-10-16 10:59:33 -0400

This is an out rage and needs to stop. This pipeline does not benefit Americans and needs to be removed plain and simple .
Martie- Marthea Jager endorsed 2018-10-16 10:59:27 -0400
@chuckbillups tweeted link to this page. 2018-10-16 10:58:57 -0400
I'm endorsing Oil & Water Don't Mix. Please join me! https://www.oilandwaterdontmix.org/contact_the_mackinac_bridge_authority?recruiter_id=38451
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Charles Billups endorsed 2018-10-16 10:58:42 -0400

What I sent:

Dear Mr. Sweeney-

I am greatly concerned with planned exploratory tunnel and the process by which it has been decided. The decision reeks of inside baseball and an effort to skirt the process by which the citizens of Michigan are protected against decisions motivated by greed and stupidity.

It’s a sweetheart deal that exposes Michigan to risk – both environmental and financial. Our public ownership of the tunnel and a 99 year lease saddles us with Enbridge – a Canadian oil company. Do you remember the Kalamazoo River? If there are issues that result from this serial polluter’s misconduct, our state will bear the financial repercussions.

And if that happens, the agreement only provides $1.88 billion in financial pledges from Enbridge in the case of major damages. Economists estimate the cost of a worst-case spill could reach $6.3 billion.

That does not include intangible catastrophic environment damage to a fishery I hold dear. Yet the bridge authority is considering bypassing a thorough environmental review of the Snyder-Enbridge oil tunnel under the Great Lakes Submerged Lands Act instead of looking at better alternatives?

Is the MBA a state agency or an Enbridge subsidiary?

Sincerely,

Charles Billups
Duane Hampton endorsed 2018-10-16 10:53:19 -0400
Jean Bergman endorsed 2018-10-16 10:51:15 -0400

It makes no sense to take on responsibility for a tunnel and dangerous pipe line that operates almost entirely for Canada and is such a danger to our waters. Enbridge has a very bad record on Michigan waters. The Kalamazoo spill was bad and took a very long time to clean up!
Kathy Oppenhuizen endorsed 2018-10-16 10:49:59 -0400
Mary Sanders endorsed 2018-10-16 10:49:58 -0400
(Miss) Lora Leland endorsed 2018-10-16 10:49:22 -0400
mario maraldo endorsed 2018-10-16 10:48:01 -0400
Julie Warrick endorsed 2018-10-16 10:47:09 -0400
Mike Wilkinson endorsed 2018-10-16 10:46:31 -0400
Marge Ferro endorsed 2018-10-16 10:45:39 -0400

Please please we are Michigan residents who dearly love our precious Great Lakes and CANNOT and will not risk an oil spill in them! This is no joke and I’m upset that the residents don’t get to have a voice in this careless decision. Do not pass this legislation to allow a tunnel to be built I. The Great Lakes.

Sincerely,

Peggy Ferro