Michigan LCV statement on Line 5 hearing with Canadian officials

LANSING – The Michigan League of Conservation Voters today issued the following statement after the Senate Committee on Natural Resources heard testimony from Canadian officials on the future of the Line 5 pipeline running under the Straits of Mackinac. The damaged Line 5 Pipeline represents the single greatest threat to the Great Lakes and drinking water for the people of Michigan.

“Today’s hearing is yet another attempt by Enbridge and Canadian officials to create false narratives around Line 5 and continue its arrangement where Michigan assumes all of the risk for the damaged, 68-year-old Line 5 pipeline in our Great Lakes,” said Bentley Johnson, senior partnerships manager at the Michigan League of Conservation Voters. “Canada continues to reject pipeline proposals due to environmental risks in their own country, so they are content with taking a shortcut through Michigan, putting our Great Lakes and drinking water at risk. Line 5 is years beyond its intended lifespan and is a ticking time bomb in our Great Lakes. It must be shut down.”

The one-sided hearing comes after months of desperate attempts by Enbridge Energy to fight Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s decision to revoke the easement agreement between the company and the state of Michigan. The aging and damaged pipeline is set to be shut down in May 2021.