SIGN THE PETITION
This is how we make our government accountable to the people. We'll deliver your signature to tell Gov. Whitmer the will of the people is to #ShutDownLine5
Building a tunnel for Enbridge Line 5 through the Straits of Mackinac is not a solution to protect the Great Lakes, 400 other water bodies, including Lake Michigan, or our dangerously overheating climate.
Sign to protect the Great Lakes from *another Line 5 oil spill
Dear Gov. Whitmer:
An oil tunnel through the public bottomlands of the Straits of Mackinac won’t protect the Great Lakes from a 645-mile long, 73-year-old Line 5 crude oil pipeline that has leaked at least 33 times into Michigan's environment. Even when its oil isn't spilling into the water, it adds to our climate crisis when burned by spilling carbon into the atmosphere every day. The time to end the threat of a catastrophic oil pipeline rupture is now. Instead of leaving a vulnerable and hazardous oil pipeline operating in the Mackinac Straits for years while trusting a dishonest Enbridge to protect the Great Lakes, I support your action to revoke the Line 5 easement and urge you to prevent an oil tunnel from being constructed.
* Yes, Enbridge Line 5 has already spilled 33 times and 1.1 million gallons.
Showing 14097 reactions
We do not need Line 5 lines. We do not need a tunnel to replace them. Any light crude oil and natural gas liquids passing for five miles beneath 100-270 feet deep fresh water is an accident waiting to happen. It is a disaster in the making. There is no such thing as leak-proof pipelines or tunnels. A planned loss is built into the engineering calculations. It may be minimized, but it is never zero.
You can not drink oil! Oil does not support life within and along the shores of the Great Lakes. What tourist would want to swim, sail, canoe, kayak, fish, surf or do any other variety of activities one would do with our magnificent lakes!? Our tourist business would be decimated. Isn’t it time for us to PUT MICHIGAN FIRST and let the oil industry settle for something far less than they want. They have been forcing citizens to do just that for about 150 years. No amount of money donated to our elected officials by Enbridge or any other fossil fuel company will have ANY impact on damages waiting to happen. It is not a question of IF, but only a matter of time!
If you are not aware, only one quart of oil can contaminate up to a quarter million gallons of fresh water. That one quart of oil will cause an oil slick 2 acres in size. Ever day, nearly 21 MILLION GALLONS of oil flow through Line 5! That should sober anyone to the magnitude of the problem and the reality of any clean up to be required.
As if that weren’t enough, the actual pipeline is over 1000 miles long. Numerous leaks and issues take place on a regular basis along the length of Line 5 all the time…including the pipeline running on land through Michigan. I urge you Governor Whitmer and ALL our elected officials to look at the Long game and the legacy you will leave. In my capacity as a former water quality and environmental consultant and as a citizen of Michigan, do not prolong this madness and end the threat that has hung over us for far too long! Thank you for your attention to this plea.
Keys