Kyle Davidson
Michigan Advance
As the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, or USACE, continues to prepare the draft of its long-awaited environmental review of the Line 5 tunnel project; the Corps confirmed on Wednesday that its evaluation would move forward on a shortened timeline following an executive order from President Donald Trump.
The project would replace a four-mile section of the pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac with a new segment located in a concrete-lined tunnel beneath the lakebed, intended to contain any potential spills from the pipeline.
However, Native American Tribes and environmental activists have long argued the pipeline poses too much of a threat to continue operating in the Straits — where Lake Huron and Lake Michigan meet — as tribal nations and environmental organizations have brought forth several legal challenges against the project, raising concerns about the impacts of both constructing the tunnel and allowing Line 5 to continue operating.
In order to move forward with construction, Enbridge Energy, the Canadian company that owns the pipeline, must secure permits from the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, the Michigan Public Service Commission and the Army Corps of Engineers.
As part of its permitting review, the Corps must issue an environmental impact statement examining the natural, cultural and human environment before making its permitting decision. In 2023, the Army Corps of Engineers announced it would extend its review for the statement, with plans to issue a draft statement in 2025 and a final decision expected in early 2026. However, a decision could come much sooner following an order from President Trump instructing the United States Army Corps of Engineers to exercise emergency permitting power to facilitate the nation’s energy supply.
Following Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order which declared a national energy emergency in order to boost fossil fuel production, many Line 5 opponents warned that the order could impact the Corps’ review of the tunnel project.
After several indications that the Line 5 tunnel would receive expedited processing, members of the Corps confirmed on Wednesday that the project would be reviewed under emergency procedures.
While members of the Corps could not offer an updated timeline for the project, Shane McCoy, the regulatory chief for the USACE’s Detroit District told reporters on Wednesday the draft environmental impact statement would most likely be released in June.
Though the timeline for the project has been shortened, McCoy said the emergency procedures would not eliminate any steps from the review, later telling reporters, “We have full confidence that we will be making the decision based on the best information available.”
“The truncated process will result in a very legally defensible and very well informed decision in our record of decision,” McCoy said.
McCoy also emphasized that the decision on whether to permit the project would not be determined prior to the completion of its analysis and all required consultations and coordinations. However, Whitney Gravelle, president of the Bay Mills Indian Community, said she didn’t believe that.
On March 21, the Bay Mills Indian Community alongside the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi, and Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi sent a letter to the USACE, withdrawing their participation as cooperating agencies in drafting the environmental impact statement due to the expectation that the project would soon receive permitting due to Trump’s executive order. The Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians similarly withdrew from talks with the USACE on March 26.
While USACE Lt. Col. Wallace Bandeff said tribal input helped shape and refine cultural resource surveys and reports and the consideration of cultural resources in the Corps of Engineers review, Gravelle said the process was inherently flawed, and that they had repeatedly submitted comments, data and scientific fact that was ignored.
Despite the departure of the seven tribes participating as cooperating agencies, the USACE told reporters it continues to consult with them, as well as 13 other tribal nations.
While the Corps determined Enbridge’s permit request met the definition of Trump’s emergency order, Gravelle said she’d like to know where the emergency is.
“Emergency measures are in place for things like flooding or wildfires or loss of life and property, and how would Line 5 impact anyone in any way,” Gravelle said pointing to the Edenville Dam failure and Enbridge’s 2010 oil spill in the Kalamazoo River as recent examples of emergency permitting within the state.
Should the project move forward, it would have detrimental harm to an already vulnerable population of white fish and lake trout in Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, which would reduce tribal fishing in the Straits, Gravelle said.
In 1836, the Anishinaabe signed the Treaty of Washington, ceding nearly 14 million acres of land to settlers. In return, Anishinaabe peoples would retain the right to hunt, fish and gather within the ceded territory.
“We’ve shared evidence with them. Locations of, you know, fish spawning beds in both of the lakes, we’ve shared with them cultural historic properties, both on the North and the South Shore…. we’re trying to not only prevent future harm, but we’re also trying to protect and preserve what we have now,” Gravelle said.
“And nobody hears that right? Like nobody can understand the importance of tribal treaty rights, because when they think of treaty rights, they just think of someone going out and catching a fish. And they don’t realize that this is tied to teachings that you get from your parents on where to fish and how to fish, and then, you know, teachings that you get from your elders when you have fish at ceremony, or teachings on how to interact with the landscape, or like, why do we fish during these seasons, but not during the other seasons. It’s all interwoven into our Indigenous way of life,” Gravelle said.
In a statement responding to the USACE’s notice, Gravelle’s message was simple: “We will continue to defend the rights of the Great Lakes. See you in court.”
“That’s exactly how I feel,” Gravelle told the Michigan Advance. “We have been setting ourselves up and positioning ourselves now that we will fight for our rights before the court, and we will do it not only on behalf of tribes, but on behalf of the rest of the Great Lakes.”
When asked what the community was looking to challenge, Gravelle said all options were on the table, down to the executive order and the determination that the project meets emergency permitting criteria.
“When you are threatening tribes and tribal people and our community’s way of life, there’s nothing to do, but left to fight and to fight, so that we can continue to exist,” Gravelle said.
As the Army Corps of Engineers moves forward with its review, the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy and the Michigan Public Service Commission have already granted the project its necessary permits.
However, the The Bay Mills Indian Community, Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, and the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi alongside Environmental Law and Policy Center and the Michigan Climate Action Network have sought leave to appeal the Public Service Commission’s decision to the Supreme Court, after a previous court upheld the Commission’s decision. The Great Lakes water advocacy group For Love of Water — or FLOW — has filed a separate application aiming to appeal the case.
Additionally Enbridge must redo its water resources permit as part of a legal agreement with EGLE and the Bay Mills Indian Community. EGLE Strategic Communications Advisor Scott Dean told the Michigan Advance on April 3 that EGLE is currently reviewing two applications for construction activities related to the tunnel, including a joint permitting application covering its Wetlands Protection and Great Lakes Bottomlands permits.
EGLE is also considering Enbridge’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit, with its current permit set to expire on Oct. 1, 2025. The permit aims to protect water quality by limiting the amount of pollutants that can be discharged into a body of water.
Enbridge spokesperson Ryan Duffy referenced a previous statement when asked about the USACE’s shortened permitting pathway, calling the pipeline “critical energy infrastructure”
“In 2021 the State of Michigan issued its environmental permits for the tunnel project, and in 2023 the Michigan Public Service Commission approved placing the new pipeline segment in the tunnel as Line 5 crosses the Straits of Mackinac. However, the project still awaits action by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on an environmental impact statement and a permitting decision,” Duffy said, adding that the company had reapplied for permits from EGLE which were set to expire in 2026.
