Tribes urge Biden to speak out against Line 5
Federal agencies slow to respond to legal battle
Tribal nations around the Great Lakes are urging the federal government to speak out against Enbridge’s Line 5 oil pipeline.
This week, a group of 30 tribal nations sent a letter to President Joe Biden asking the administration to fulfill its commitment to support tribal sovereignty. In December, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals requested federal input in a legal battle between the Canadian oil giant and the Bad River Band of
Lake Superior Chippewa. The Biden Administration has yet to respond.
Last June, a federal district court ruled that Enbridge Energy was trespassing on the Bad River Band’s land and must remove its Line 5 pipeline from the Band’s land within three years or face a shutdown. Both sides appealed the decision. Enbridge argues the judge didn’t have the authority to threaten a shutdown order. Tribal officials with the Band insist three years is too long.
Earlier this month, the federal appeals court heard oral arguments over whether the pipeline can continue to transport oil across the Band’s land. U.S. Judge Frank H. Easterbrook called the federal government’s silence “extraordinary” and said they couldn’t make a decision until it weighed in. The day before the oral arguments the federal government filed a 30 day extension to file an amicus brief.
Federal agencies have been slow to move permits for Enbridge’s proposed reroute around the Band’s land. Enbridge has argued that it is protected by a 1977 pipeline treaty agreement that prevents interruption to the flow of oil between the U.S. and Canada. The Canadian government filed an amicus brief in support of Enbridge last September, citing the transit treaty. The United Nations has also weighed in, asking that the two countries shut it the pipeline down.
Tribal nations have expressed frustration over the federal government’s silence, saying that Line 5 threatens tribal treaty rights, which should be the law of the land.
“When a foreign corporation seeks to disregard U.S. property laws and threatens tribal sovereignty and the rights of Indigenous citizens of the United States, the federal government has an obligation to push back against that incursion,” said Whitney Gravelle, the president of the Bay Mills Indian Community, in a release. “We request that President Biden acts quickly to support, not just the right of tribal nations to protect their lands and people, but also the rule of law.”
What to know about the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline
The Line 5 pipeline runs 645 miles from Superior, Wisconsin, to Sarnia, Ontario, crossing Michigan’s two peninsulas under the Straits of Mackinac. The oil pipeline has been operating on 12 miles of the Bad River Band’s land with an expired easement for more than a decade when the Band chose not to renew it. The Band has long worried about a potential oil spill on its reservation, especially since major flooding last spring pushed one bank of the meandering Bad River to less than 15 feet from the buried pipeline.
The oil pipeline transports 450,000 barrels per day of crude oil and 80,000 barrels of natural gas liquids, and supplies up to 55% of Michigan’s propane needs, and transports oil to refineries in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Ontario and Quebec. Enbridge says that Line 5 is necessary to fulfill energy needs. But, a recent report found that in the event of a Line 5 shutdown, the energy market could adapt without shortages or price hikes.
Caitlin Looby is a Report for America corps member who writes about the environment and the Great Lakes. Reach her at clooby@gannett.com or follow her on X @caitlooby .
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“When a foreign corporation seeks to disregard U.S. property laws and threatens tribal sovereignty and the rights of Indigenous citizens of the United States, the federal government has an obligation to push back against that incursion.”