Army Corps Approves Line 5 Tunnel Permit Over Tribal Objections
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- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a key permit for Enbridge's plan to replace a 4-mile segment of Line 5 pipeline through the Straits of Mackinac with a tunnel beneath the lakebed, despite the agency's own acknowledgment of "permanent adverse impacts on wetlands, vegetation, land use, and cultural resources."
- Army Corps fast-tracked the review under President Trump's executive order declaring a "national energy emergency" and concluded the project "would not abrogate or impermissibly impair tribal treaty rights."
- Austin Lowes, chairman of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, called the approval "disrespectful and ludicrous" and said regulators "flat-out ignored" the straits' sacred significance to Anishaabe peoples, where ancestors are buried and treaty rights protected under the 1836 Treaty of Washington remain in force.
- Seven Michigan tribal nations withdrew from permit discussions last year over ignored tribal expertise, while Earthjustice attorney Debbie Chizewar noted a 6-to-10-year construction timeline "is certainly not a response to a national energy emergency."
- Enbridge still cannot begin construction without state permits; the Michigan Supreme Court recently sent an approved state permit back for more thorough review, with a wastewater discharge permit decision expected before end of September.
- Michigan Governor Whitmer's administration is appealing a federal judge's ruling that she lacked authority to shut down Line 5 in 2020, while tribal lawyers explore legal options to challenge the new federal permit.
Why it matters: Enbridge calls the federal permit a "significant step forward," but Michigan still controls two key state permits, the state Supreme Court has already rebuked the existing permit review as insufficient, and tribal nations are lining up litigation — meaning the pipeline's fate rests on parallel state and tribal court fights the Army Corps permit does not resolve.
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