Water protectors demand pipeline eviction; Whitmer warns Enbridge not to disregard deadline

May 13—MACKINAW CITY — Great Lakes water protectors and pipeline opponents drew their line in the beach sand Wednesday at the Straits of Mackinac.

The day's events brought a peaceful showdown over a state-imposed deadline to halt the flow of petrochemicals through a section of Enbridge's Line 5 pipeline that crosses the Great Lakes bottomlands in the Straits.

Groups of environmental advocate protesters and Indigenous water protectors delivered symbolic eviction notices to the Canadian pipeline transport company in Mackinaw City and called on the corporation to adhere to state orders to halt the twin-underwater pipeline's operations.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer this week warned the company not to disregard her May 12 deadline to shutdown. She sent a warning letter to Enbridge threatening to go after any profits from the pipeline in Great Lakes waters earned beyond the deadline she set five months ago.

Enbridge officials vowed to defy the state's demand to turn off pipeline's flow.

Water rights, blessings

Indigenous water protectors gathered Wednesday in Mackinaw City to participate in water blessings and ceremonies to further their fight against what they argue is an ever-present threat of ecological disaster to their ancestral region, should a leak or rupture occur in Line 5.

"We've always battled something," said Nathan Wright, citizen of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians and founder of MackinawOde, an Indigenous water protection action group.

"It will be looked back in history as the Pipeline War," he said.

Wright said Indigenous people understand it will take time to shift society away from the consumption of fossil fuels in favor of alternative energy sources. Meanwhile, he said they must strive to protect their most sacred areas such as the deep waters of the Straits.

"We are concerned right now with this pipeline leaking. We are concerned with that tunnel not working out," he said.

Another Indigenous water protector agreed.

Beatrice Menasé Kwe Jackson, a grandmother of the Three Fires Midewewin Lodge and water defender veteran of Standing Rock, said the day's events were peaceful. That includes a sunrise water ceremony attended by at least one Enbridge supporter, she said.

"We came here in peace. This whole gathering is in peace," she said. "We believe in respecting life — the spirit of the water, the spirit of each person, each tree, each animal."

Water protectors this week gathered at the straits not just to protect the Great Lakes, Jackson said, but to protect water for all the world.

The Bay Mills Indian Community, which has treaty-recognized fishing rights in the Straits of Mackinac, approved a resolution Monday that "banishes" the underwater pipelines from its territory.

Larger crowds of environmentalists and Indigenous water protectors are expected to protest the continued use of Line 5 on Thursday in Mackinaw City, organizers said.

Legalities, deadlines

Environmentalists and Indigenous tribes back Whitmer's argument that Line 5 remains at constant risk of a catastrophic spill in the busy Great Lakes channel.

In November, the governor moved to revoke an easement that Michigan granted in 1953 for the pipes to occupy the lake bottom, and ordered them closed by May 12.

Enbridge officials insist the section of pipeline remains in good condition and argued its loss would cause economic damage in both the United States and Canada, a position shared by the Canadian government, which filed a legal brief Tuesday in support of the company.

"Enbridge has a responsibility to the people of Michigan and the Great Lakes region, and will continue to operate Line 5 safely, reliably and affordably to fuel to the region's economies," said Vern Yu, Enbridge executive vice president and president of liquids pipelines, in a released statement.

Whitmer, though, argued in her letter to Yu this week that continued operation of the line after Wednesday's deadline "constitutes an intentional trespass" and that the company would do so "at its own risk."

"If the state prevails in the underlying litigation, Enbridge will face the prospect of having to disgorge to the state all profits it derives from its wrongful use of the easement lands following that date," Whitmer said.

Enbridge officials contend the state has no authority to order the shutdown because the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration oversees interstate pipelines.

"We will not stop operating the pipeline unless we are ordered by a court or our regulator, which we view as highly unlikely," said company spokesman Ryan Duffy via email. "Line 5 is operating safely, reliably and is in compliance with the law."

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel filed a lawsuit last fall in support of Whitmer's shutdown order, while Enbridge countersued in federal court and wants the matter decided there. A federal judge now considers which court should have jurisdiction.

The Straits connect Lakes Michigan and Huron and is where a nearly 4-mile-long section of Line 5 crosses the bottomlands. The pipeline moves oil and natural gas liquids through parts of Wisconsin and Michigan to refineries in Ontario.

Enbridge intends to retire the stretch of pipeline only after it's replaced with new pipes built within a $500 million underground tunnel bored deep beneath the lakebed. Supporters contend a tunnel would remove any risk of leaks.

Opponents argue it's misguided to invest that much in such a large-scale infrastructure project that supports the fossil fuel industry, which also carries its own environmental risks, rather than focusing on renewable and alternative energy sources.

The Associated Press contributed information to this article.