Environmental advocates and tribal leaders issued urgent warnings this week after the Trump administration announced plans to fast-track the permitting of a controversial oil pipeline tunnel beneath the Great Lakes, using emergency powers granted under a new executive order.
The decision, announced Tuesday by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, follows President Donald Trump’s January executive order declaring a national energy emergency. The order directed federal agencies to expedite fossil fuel infrastructure projects deemed essential to energy security. The Line 5 pipeline tunnel, proposed by Canadian oil company Enbridge, was selected as one of the projects eligible for accelerated permitting under that authority.
“The only energy ‘emergency’ the American people face is Trump’s efforts to disregard clean air and water safeguards in order to rush through dirty, dangerous fossil fuel projects,” said Mahyar Sorour, director of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Fossil Fuels Policy.
Line 5 carries crude oil and natural gas liquids along a 645-mile route from Superior, Wisconsin, to Sarnia, Ontario. A particularly sensitive segment runs beneath the Straits of Mackinac, the narrow waterway connecting Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. Enbridge’s proposed “Great Lakes Tunnel Project” would encase this segment in a 3.6-mile tunnel bored beneath the lakebed, a plan the company says would reduce the risk of leaks.
Enbridge spokesperson Ryan Duffy defended the project Wednesday, calling Line 5 “critical energy infrastructure” and saying the tunnel is intended to “make a safe pipeline safer.” He added that Enbridge began applying for the necessary permits five years ago.
The Army Corps had previously projected a decision on the tunnel permit by early next year. But that timeline is now being “truncated,” according to Shane McCoy, the regulatory chief for the Corps’ Detroit District. He told reporters Wednesday that while no steps would be skipped, the project is now subject to an accelerated review. McCoy said the process will still produce “a very legally defensible, very well-informed decision,” though no specific schedule was provided.
Critics condemned the move as a dangerous shortcut that prioritizes industry over public safety and environmental protection.
“Trump has proven yet again that he’ll back Big Oil and corporate interests over the safety and well-being of real people,” said Sierra Club Michigan chapter director Elayne Coleman. “Fast-tracking the Line 5 tunnel puts us at risk for catastrophic damage. An oil spill would contaminate the water for tens of millions, cost billions of taxpayer dollars to clean up, and destroy Michigan fishing and tourism.”
Environmentalists have long warned that a rupture in Line 5 beneath the Straits could devastate the region. Between 1968 and 2017, Line 5 spilled at least 1.13 million gallons of oil in 29 separate incidents, according to research compiled by the National Wildlife Federation. In 2017, Enbridge acknowledged that engineers had known about protective coating gaps in the pipeline’s underwater segment for three years. In 2018, a boat anchor strike caused further damage, escalating public concern and prompting then-Michigan Governor Rick Snyder to reach a deal with the company to pursue a tunnel solution.
The new fast-track status for Line 5 comes just days after a separate Keystone pipeline spill released an estimated 3,500 barrels of oil into a North Dakota field, amplifying fears about pipeline safety and oversight.
Enbridge says the tunnel is a necessary safeguard. The company currently transports about 23 million gallons of petroleum products daily through Line 5. But environmental and Indigenous groups argue that any continued reliance on the pipeline poses unacceptable risks.
In a letter sent in March, seven Native American tribes that had been consulting with the Army Corps announced they were ending discussions beyond those related to historic properties, citing the Corps’ failure to consider the risk of a spill or the tunnel’s contribution to climate change. The Corps said Wednesday it continues to consult with 20 other tribes but provided no further details.
Legal battles over Line 5 are ongoing across state and federal courts. In Michigan, the state appellate court ruled in February that permits issued for the tunnel project were valid, while separate lawsuits filed by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and Governor Gretchen Whitmer challenging the pipeline’s easement remain unresolved.
Opposition is also mounting in Wisconsin, where 12 miles of Line 5 cross the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa’s reservation. The tribe sued in 2019 to remove the pipeline, noting that the easements expired in 2013. A federal judge last year ordered Enbridge to remove the pipeline from tribal land within three years. Enbridge has proposed a 41-mile reroute, but that plan faces challenges as well, including a contested case process with Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources and additional litigation from the tribe.
Despite legal uncertainty and sustained public resistance, the Trump administration’s emergency designation has introduced a new urgency into the permitting process. Local advocates say state leaders must act before irreversible damage is done.
“Now would be a good time for Gov. Whitmer to stand up for the Great Lakes and oppose the Line 5 tunnel,” wrote Michigan-based advocacy group Oil and Water Don’t Mix.
Veteran water rights advocate Maude Barlow echoed the call for resistance, calling the Trump administration’s decision “a travesty and a danger to the Great Lakes!”
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