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Add your voice to those who know an oil tunnel under the Great Lakes is a bad idea.

Enbridge and Michigan's Governor made a backroom deal to explore building a tunnel in the Straits of Mackinac that would keep Canadian oil flowing through the Great Lakes. A tunnel is a bad idea on several levels. 

Sign the Petition

Join us and sign this petition now to oppose a Line 5 oil pipeline tunnel for Canada, protect the Great Lakes, and support shutting down the Line 5 oil pipelines in the Straits of Mackinac. 

To Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, Attorney General Bill Schuette, and all 2018 candidates for governor and attorney general in Michigan:

There is no light at the end of Gov. Snyder’s proposed Line 5 oil pipeline tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac. Michigan doesn’t need Enbridge’s Line 5 or the oil it sends to southern Ontario. We don’t need to keep the Great Lakes at risk of a catastrophic oil pipeline rupture in the Straits while state officials spend years and taxpayer resources keeping an old oil pipeline running so a Canadian oil transport company can get a new pipeline built in Michigan to transport heavy tar sands oil.

What we do need is a clear timetable to close Line 5 under the Straits of Mackinac and keep oil pipelines out of the Great Lakes!

Gov. Snyder’s proposed Line 5 tunnel presents a host of troubling problems, threatening the long-term protection of the Great Lakes and their tributaries. They include:

  • Exposing the Great Lakes to dangerous tar sands oil – Constructing a tunnel for a Canadian company to haul Canadian oil to southern Canada under the world’s largest source of fresh surface water will transform Line 5 into yet another dangerous Enbridge tar sands oil conduit. Line 5 does not currently transport heavy tar sands oil thanks to the State of Michigan’s 2015 ban. However, a new Canadian tunnel in the Straits is an invitation for Enbridge to seek to lift this ban and transport tar sands in Line 5. A Canadian Line 5 tunnel would give Enbridge the green light to expand its North American tar sands oil operations here in the heart of the Great Lakes.
  • Continuing to use a leaky old oil pipeline – Building a tunnel for Canada under the Great Lakes ignores the other 641 miles of the 65-year old Line 5 that are increasingly corroding, especially in boggy wet areas. Since 1968, Line 5 has ruptured at least 29 times on land, spilling over 1.1 million gallons of oil into Michigan’s pristine lands and waters. Line 5 traverses 245 other water crossings, including ones that are tributaries of Lakes Michigan, Superior, and Huron. One Line 5 spill in the Upper Peninsula near Lake Michigan contaminated 825 tons of soil in the Hiawatha National Forest and exposed groundwater to potential contamination.
  • Ignoring the law and alternatives – A Canadian tunnel under the Straits is not permissible under Michigan’s Great Lakes Submerged Lands Act (GLSLA), common law public trust doctrine, and would risk violating the 1836 Treaty and consent decree with Michigan Tribes protecting the Straits fishing grounds. These protections are meant to safeguard the Great Lakes and state officials must enforce them and Enbridge can’t ignore them. One such protection requires Enbridge to prove that there are no other alternatives to Line 5 or the Straits, when in fact other alternatives exist. As citizens, we also have a right to ensure our laws protecting the Great Lakes are followed.
  • Opposing the public’s will – Michigan has already imposed a directional oil and gas drilling ban deep under the Great Lakes because of its sovereign title to these public trust Great Lakes bottomlands. Opening up the Great Lakes to more oil transport is in conflict with this established policy. The oil and gas drilling ban arose largely because of concern about the migration of oil upward from the subsurface lakebeds of the Great Lakes. Strongly supported by the public, the 2002 drilling ban was designed to prevent the very risk of a Line 5 tunnel for Canada would present. In addition, May 2018 public polling results found 54% of Michigan voters want the Line 5 oil pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac to be shut down, and 87% of voters said they are concerned that the 65-year-old pipeline could have oil spill in Northern Michigan, while 64% said they are "very concerned."
  • Triggering NAFTA claims by other companies – Allowing Enbridge to tunnel under the Great Lakes to benefit Canada could trigger other oil and gas transport companies to assert rights under Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), citing violations of fair treatment and free trade provisions.
  • Harming the Pure Michigan economy – Northern Michigan’s regional economy—from tourism to fishing—would face severe disruption during construction of a Canadian Line 5 tunnel. A state study estimated 27 months of significant increases in traffic congestion near the Mackinac Bridge, reduced housing for seasonal tourism workers and strains on emergency fire, rescue and police services.
  • Risking an explosion and catastrophic spill – All oil pipelines – even those in tunnels – have an inherent risk of spills in their operations. The risk of having a spill cannot be completely engineered away because of the ever-present potential for human error contributing to or causing a spill event. Combining crude oil pipelines with other pipe fossil fuel liquids or gases introduces worst-case scenarios that would likely compound the high risk of unacceptable catastrophic harm.
  • Promoting climate change – Climate change demands immediate, coordinated state and regional energy policies that promote the expansion of renewable energies. By continued investment in fossil fuel infrastructure like Line 5, however, the State would effectively delay the current energy transition to renewable energy across North America. In addition, extracting and refining Canadian tar sands crude oil produces 20 percent more climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions than the same processes for conventional American crude, according to a peer-reviewed study funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.

A Line 5 oil pipeline tunnel for Canada under the Straits of Mackinac poses an unacceptable risk to our water, ecosystems, health, and economy.

I urge you to oppose a Line 5 oil pipeline tunnel for Canada, protect the Great Lakes, and support shutting down the Line 5 oil pipelines in the Straits of Mackinac.

5,615 SIGNATURES
Help Reach the Next Goal: 6,500 signatures

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Showing 3273 reactions

  • Amy Watson
    signed via 2019-01-30 22:10:37 -0500
    Amy Watson
  • Ali Kassira
    signed 2019-01-30 17:28:42 -0500
  • marisa bradshaw
    signed 2019-01-27 20:18:12 -0500
  • John Kurczewski
    signed 2019-01-27 13:48:02 -0500
  • Melissa Walton
    signed 2019-01-26 10:12:41 -0500
  • Ann Gillette
    signed 2019-01-26 09:15:55 -0500
  • Alexis Mojzuk
    signed 2019-01-24 12:06:13 -0500
  • Zoe Zeerip
    signed 2019-01-23 17:32:28 -0500
    Progress is safety in the case of energy transitions. Let’s create solutions that are less dangerous to our planet and the people. Stand for the people not the corporation.
  • Vanessa Ortman
    signed 2019-01-22 19:31:08 -0500
    No amt of money, oil,jobs or anything is worth putting our Great Lakes at risk. All of which MI is NOT benefiting from this deal!
  • Luke Klein
    signed 2019-01-22 18:34:57 -0500
    We must bring more young people to this movement.
  • Grant Schrader
    signed 2019-01-22 18:03:20 -0500
    Grant Schrader
  • Lydia Hawley
    signed 2019-01-22 13:16:33 -0500
  • Clay Hawley
    signed 2019-01-22 11:01:07 -0500
  • Victoria Vinnels
    signed 2019-01-20 18:27:37 -0500
  • Christina Riddle
    followed this page 2019-01-19 14:49:44 -0500
  • Christina Riddle
    signed 2019-01-19 14:48:07 -0500
    We cannot afford a risk that would take over 100 years to recover from!!!
  • Little Linda
    signed 2019-01-18 15:55:33 -0500
  • Hilary Doe
    signed 2019-01-16 21:57:46 -0500
  • Holly Truitt
    signed 2019-01-16 10:58:18 -0500
  • Jack Nelson
    signed 2019-01-14 21:33:41 -0500
    Two or three years ago we had a canadian gas pipeline rupture behind our subdivision . 25000 lbs per square inch pressure in the middle of the night. It took twelve hours to shut it down and we were evacuated the entire time. This pipeline and the 30 inch one next to it are installed through a swamp. If the line hadnt ruptured on the bottom the entire subdivision would have been destroyed. I just found out about a marathon gasoline pipeline less than 50 feet from my front door,. Berrien county is literally full of these pipelines going around the bottom of lake michigan on their way to and from canada. What can we do to stop this . When the gas pressure line ruptured the ground shook mightily shortly after many homeowners had water well problems, and foundation cracks. The pipeline company gave us $100.00 gift cards for our trouble. It felt like a slap in the face.
  • Katrina Petredean
    signed 2019-01-13 10:25:09 -0500
    Fresh water must be protected. We can’t drink salt water nor can plants.
  • luke baker
    signed 2019-01-11 10:50:23 -0500
    I am writing a bill for change in my high school civics class, and this just makes me mad.
  • Clifford Biddick
    signed 2019-01-10 18:58:37 -0500
    Cliff Biddick
  • Riley Appelgren
    signed 2019-01-09 18:49:06 -0500
    shut it down!
  • Natalie Notaro
    signed 2019-01-08 19:59:06 -0500
  • Johanna Aquilina
    signed 2019-01-08 09:05:41 -0500
  • Frances Johns
    signed 2019-01-03 08:03:28 -0500
  • Andrea Baier-Petiet
    signed 2019-01-02 17:58:08 -0500
  • Ashley Yonker
    signed 2019-01-02 17:42:32 -0500
    I personally know union people that work on pipelines. I have listened to them over and over talk about how unsafe the pipelines are. They say “It’s not a matter of if, but when, they will break.” Many inspectors are either not qualified to do their jobs to ensure the integrity of the pipelines, or they are paid well to ensure that the job gets finished as soon as possible and look the other way regarding the quality and integrity of the job. You have no way to know which it is and soon the unbelievable will happen, we will have a major oil spill.

    If the union guys bring it up they are told to go back to their job (and they know they risk losing their work so they do).

    YOU are responsible if this happens. YOU CAN NOT ENSURE that it won’t happen unless you are on each and every job, which you will not be. The only option you have to make sure it won’t happen is to not allow it to begin with. Otherwise the safety of our lands and water, and the health of those exposed to a leak, are in jeopardy. When it happens, it will be your fault because you had the power to stop it and you chose not to.

    The best interests of the public are, and should be, your primary interests. To think that you are even considering these pipelines is unthinkable. Your efforts to advance the construction of these pipelines is horrific. I live in Kalamazoo where the worst inland water spill occurred in our river. To this date it has not been cleaned up, even though Enbridge states it has. Our water way will never be the same. Our river was contaminated, the fish are no longer safe to eat, the wildlife was devastated and the surrounding land was uninhabitable. Enbridge had to buy out many homes where people had lived for decades because they could no longer live there. DO YOU WANT THIS TO HAPPEN OTHER PLACES IN OUR COUNTRY?

    You MUST rethink this and not allow these pipelines anywhere. We, and our ecosystems, can never recover from the disasters that will occur, and they will. You have the power to stop this before it starts. For God’s sake, do the sane thing and do not allow these pipelines to be constructed!
  • Barbara Johnson
    signed 2019-01-01 19:37:09 -0500

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