LANSING – The National Wildlife Federation is urging the Michigan Public Service Commission to reject Enbridge Energy’s appeal for a declaratory ruling on the Line 5 tunnel and require a thorough review of the entire project, including impacts to our climate and alternatives to Michigan’s use of Line 5.

“Enbridge is attempting to sidestep critical review of their tunnel process. This shuts out the public and limits how Michigan considers a risky project like this which will blast and drill through the bottomlands of the Great Lakes,” said Beth Wallace, Great Lakes Freshwater campaigns manager for the National Wildlife Federation. “This tunnel proposal has been pedaled by Enbridge as a ‘safe’ alternative to the current pipeline sitting at the bottom of the Straits of Mackinac. This is far from true. This project carries huge financial and ecological risks and does nothing to protect the Great Lakes from the urgent threat Line 5 poses – we can’t continue to wait upwards of a decade, if ever, to remove the current lines from the Straits of Mackinac. This is why we are urging the MPSC to carefully and critically review this proposal and promptly reject Enbridge’s attempts to avoid permitting.”

The virtual public hearing will take place today at 4 p.m. Learn more about the hearing.