Six Michigan tribes are pulling out of a lengthy federal review process for a planned pipeline tunnel in the state — decrying the prospect of a fast-tracked permit for the project.
In a 12-page letter Friday, the federally recognized tribes said they are “no longer willing to expend their time and resources as Cooperating Agencies just so their participation may be used” by the Army Corps of Engineers to “lend credibility to a flawed” environmental review of Enbridge’s proposed Line 5 tunnel project.
The tunnel, which would encase a replacement segment of the Line 5 oil pipeline, was on a Army Corps list of more than 600 projects that could get expedited permits as part of President Donald Trump’s “energy emergency” declaration. An executive order from Trump in January directed the Army Corps to use emergency authority under the Clean Water Act to speed up pipeline construction.
“This would be unprecedented,” said Debbie Chizewer, managing attorney for Earthjustice’s Midwest office, in an interview Monday. “The only time the corps’ emergency provisions have been used before have been for natural disasters.”
