Enbridge poses an existential threat to the Great Lakes

A sign protesting Enbridge Line 5 in Michigan. (Laina G. Stebbins | Michigan Advance)

Think about someone in your life who has needed major surgery.

Then imagine you found out that the surgeon about to treat your loved one had a terrible record.

The surgeon has a long history of violating critical protocols that prevent infection, sending 35 patients to the intensive care unit after botched procedures. His list of medical errors is responsible for two of the most horrific deaths in surgical history. And he recently let three patients bleed out on the table, without reporting it to the nurse who could have performed a transfusion.

After uncovering these facts, you wouldn’t want that surgeon to have a license, you would likely be questioning the medical board that authorized him to continue harming people, and you definitely wouldn’t in your right mind send your loved one to him.

So why are federal leaders considering putting  the Great Lakes, the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and Wisconsinites in a similar situation? Letting Enbridge, a corporation with a long history of illegal operations and oil spills, extend the 70-year-old Line 5 pipeline through the company’s proposed re-route is not a solution. It’s reckless, greedy behavior.

Those surgical casualty numbers I mentioned? They are parallel to the real track record for Enbridge. Line 5 has spilled 35 times , releasing over 1.3 million gallons of toxic oil.

Enbridge is responsible for the two largest inland oil spills in U.S. history. After Kalamazoo, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services reported that the spill increased neurological and respiratory symptoms, impaired immune system function, and caused reproductive problems . Often, the health impacts go unstudied because Enbridge fails to report the spill, like in 2019, when the company failed to notify the Wisconsin DNR about a spill for over a year.

Then, during the construction of Line 3, Enbridge violated its drilling permits and pierced three aquifers, leaking 280 million gallons of groundwater , much of which it again failed to report, incurring a criminal charge. Many of the chemicals used for drilling are also listed as proprietary, which means that we don’t know which chemicals potentially dangerous to our health might be entering our drinking water.

This is water that millions of people rely on to clean their hands and water their gardens. It’s the watershed the Bad River Band has depended on for centuries.

Water is the foundational element of our lives in Wisconsin. It’s where wild rice grows , where rivers we fished with our fathers run, and sunsets shine over the lakes where we swam with our childhood friends.

But Enbridge wants to do away with all of that by making you believe stopping Line 5 will risk the heat in your home and make energy prices soar. The company is spending millions of dollars to market those fears to Midwest communities, lobbying our leaders and dividing neighbors. But behind closed doors, Enbridge’s experts testified that a Line 5 shutdown would affect fuel prices by half a penny per gallon. An independent supply chain consultant also reported that energy firms have had plans for a shutdown since 2017, concluding there were no risks of supply shortages.

I’ve also heard radio advertisements for high-paying Enbridge jobs. But in early 2024, Enbridge laid off hundreds of workers, despite record profits . We all want dignified work to feed our families. However, a corporation with a history of dishonesty won’t get us there.

Retiring the pipeline would create more than three times as much employment, with an independent study showing that removing Line 5 would create 2,188 jobs . Enbridge also conveniently ignores the thousands of tourism jobs that rely on our Great Lakes that would be threatened by an inevitable oil spill. Or, the over 19,000 union clean energy jobs with a prevailing wage that locals will soon see hiring in Wisconsin, with more possible if we stop providing market incentives and allegiance to fossil fuels.

The good news is protecting the health of our loved ones is something we all agree on. Too often, our leaders put the profits of corporations, like Enbridge, above our safety. It’s a pattern we know so well, we find ourselves lulled into believing we can’t do anything about it.

But the Great Lakes remind us that a wave of change is not what it appears on the surface. It’s made of thousands of water droplets, just like the communities across Wisconsin are made of thousands of mothers, fathers, daughters and brothers calling for us to remove Line 5.

In the health community alone, organizations representing over 50,000 doctors, nurses and public health workers are calling to shut down Line 5 and prevent real and irreversible harm. And more are joining us every day because we know that health care has limited power in the face of crisis, it’s foresight that prevents an emergency and saves lives.

Enbridge has a record of butchering communities and the places we love. It would be absurd of the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers to allow Enbridge to continue its assault with a pipeline expansion. Wisconsin’s communities are standing strong to protect our water, our climate, the health of our neighbors, and future generations. You can weigh in by emailing your public comment by Aug. 4 to CEMVP-WiL5R-CDD-Comments@usace.army.mil

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