This April 2024, the ACDP had the pleasure of hosting Mr. Ross Fisher as speaker at a monthly meeting. Fisher is an activist with the non-profit organization Oil and Water Don't Mix based in Lansing. His organization is one of several which are increasing political pressure to close the Line 5 pipeline by raising public awareness & involvement concerning the dangerously old pipeline, particularly the section that crosses the lakebed of our Straits of Mackinac.
Mr. Fisher, Oil & Water Don't Mix, & tribal bands helped organize a caravan of supporters from Michigan & travelled to Cincinnati, OH in March to be present during oral arguments outside the Federal courthouse. Attorney General Dana Nessel's Office argued that natural resources belong to the public under Michigan's public trust doctrine & that the case against Enbridge, Inc. belongs in state court jurisdiction, not federal court. Attorney General Nessel won a restraining order from a state judge in June 2020, although Enbridge was allowed to restart oil transport in Line 5 through the Straits of Mackinac after complying with safety requirements. Afterwards Enbridge filed suit in Federal Court.
Fisher presented maps which showed the numerous Enbridge pipeline tributaries routing oil through Wisconsin & Michigan to Canada. He noted that oil currently being transported through Line 5 could be transported instead through an alternate oil pipeline. But, because it is a longer pipeline route, it would cost Enbridge more money & time, i.e. loss of profits. Fisher also presented a map of the potential extent of an oil spill based upon lake currents & prevailing winds. The spill map extends over Lake Huron to Ontario, Canada, the Upper Peninsula, & the northern portion of Lake Michigan to Wisconsin.
People residing in the counties near the Straits of Mackinac are frightened of an oil spill occurring from Enbridge Line 5. What would that world be like? Miles of Lake Michigan & Lake Huron shoreline would require months of oil abatement & clean-up. Meanwhile, our source for piped-in clean drinking water would switch to bottles, a distribution nightmare. Commercial & recreational fishing would stand still. Tourists would cancel their beach cottage vacations. Small lakeside business owners would close shop. Michigan’s economy could not take a hit like this. Northern Michigan’s shoreline consists of mom & pop motels, general stores, small cottage resorts, campgrounds, modest homes, 2nd homes for some, boat harbor towns & marinas, mixed in with miles of pristine clear beaches, hidden historic shipwrecks, sand dunes, & old forests of pine, oak, birch & beech. There is a ruggedness here, & grit. All of this is in jeopardy.
For up-to-date information concerning the lawsuit against Enbridge, click on the website below:
