For more than 70 years, Enbridge’s Line 5 has pushed crude oil and natural gas liquids across the heart of the Great Lakes — from Superior, Wisconsin, to Sarnia, Ontario. Its most dangerous stretch lies beneath the Straits of Mackinac, the narrow channel where Lake Michigan meets Lake Huron, where two aging pipes rest exposed on the lakebed.
The risk beneath the Straits
The Straits are among the worst possible places in the entire Great Lakes for an oil spill. Powerful, reversing currents would carry spilled oil for miles in every direction within hours, fouling shorelines along both lakes. The pipeline is over seven decades old, and in 2018 a ship’s anchor struck and dented it — a near-miss that made the stakes impossible to ignore. A failure here would threaten drinking water for tens of millions of people and devastate fisheries, wildlife, and coastal communities across the basin.
Whose waters these are
The Straits sit in waters where Anishinaabe nations hold treaty-protected rights to fish, gather, and steward the lakes — rights that predate both the pipeline and the company that runs it. Tribal nations including the Bay Mills Indian Community and the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians have led the fight against Line 5 and Enbridge’s proposed tunnel, arguing the project was advanced without their consent and puts their treaty rights, economies, and sacred waters at risk.
Where things stand in 2026
The fight is reaching a series of turning points:
- U.S. Supreme Court (April 2026): The Court ruled unanimously that Michigan’s lawsuit to shut down the Straits crossing belongs in state court — clearing the way for the state’s case, first filed in 2019, to move forward.
- Wisconsin — Bad River: A federal judge found Enbridge had been trespassing on the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa’s reservation and ordered the company to reroute or shut down that segment by June 2026. Enbridge has appealed and begun reroute construction; the Band and its allies are in court to stop work they say will damage wetlands and waters.
- The tunnel: Enbridge wants to drill a tunnel beneath the Straits to house a replacement pipe. State regulators approved a key permit, but tribes and conservation groups are challenging it — and in March 2026 the Michigan Supreme Court heard arguments in those cases, with a decision pending. Enbridge still needs sign-off from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Michigan’s environmental agency (EGLE) before it can build.
Enbridge calls the tunnel a safety upgrade and points to propane supply. But a tunnel would lock in decades more fossil-fuel transport through the Great Lakes — the opposite of where the climate, and the law, are heading.
What we’re calling for
- Decommission Line 5 and reject the Straits tunnel.
- Full enforcement of Anishinaabe treaty rights, including free, prior, and informed consent.
- A just transition that protects workers and secures propane and energy alternatives for the communities that rely on them.
How to help — right now
Michigan’s environmental agency (EGLE) is taking public comment on a Line 5 tunnel water permit through June 30, 2026, with a virtual public hearing on June 18, 2026. Public comments are one of the most direct ways to influence the permitting process.
- Submit a comment to EGLE before the June 30 deadline (details on the state’s EGLE Line 5 page).
- Contact Michigan’s Governor, Attorney General, and your own representatives to demand Line 5 be shut down.
- Stand with the tribal nations and organizations leading this fight.
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