MACKINAW CITY, Mich. — Tribal community and business leaders, local officials and allied groups held a press conference Thursday afternoon, calling on Enbridge to cease operation of its Line 5 pipeline.
In November, Gov. Whitmer announced she would shut down Canadian-based Enbridge's Line 5 pipeline, citing environmental concerns that the pipeline's infrastructure was outdated and at risk for an oil spill in the Great Lakes.
The deadline she set was 180 days from the announcement, May 12.
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Enbridge says the state does not have the power to stop operations and considers it a federal matter.
Watch Enbridge opponents' press conference here:
Participants in the press conference were concerned about the environmental impact Line 5 may have on the Great Lakes.
"Concerns about Line 5 became more pressing in 2010 in the aftermath of Enbridge's catastrophic Line 6 B pipeline spill of nearly 1 million gallons of crude oil along the Kalamazoo River," said Whitney Gravelle, president of Bay Mills Indian Community. "Yet much of the public does not know Line 5 has also spilled more than 1.1 million gallons of crude oil and natural gas on land and water in various tributaries in the upland portions of the Line 5, which runs through our ceded territory."
