As the 10th anniversary of the Enbridge oil s
pill in the Kalamazoo River approaches, Michigan Native American Tribes say they hope progress is made to prevent an even larger disaster.
Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Director Dan Eichinger last week asked that Enbridge, Inc. commit to repaying all damages caused to property or individuals as a result of the operation of the Line 5 dual pipelines. The director’s letter, along with Attorney General Dana Nessel’s motion for a temporary cease of all transport in Line 5 show the state may be serious about Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s promise to work toward shutting down Line 5 through the Straits of Mackinac.
“With a strong connection to the Great Lakes and the Straits, Michigan tribes understand the detrimental impact of an oil spill anywhere along Line 5 in Michigan to the lakes and river watersheds within the various ancestral territories,” says Bob Peters, Gun Lake Tribal Council Chairman. “This is a big step toward the State of Michigan holding Enbridge accountable for the liability of a pipeline through the Straights of Mackinac.”
The original 1953 easement for the pipeline required compensation for any damages. However, the most recent agreement under Gov. Rick Snyder’s Administration only puts an Enbridge subsidiary on the hook,. The subsidiary does not have sufficient financial resources to fully cover the losses and damages that would be incurred by an oil spill in the Straits.
Ten years after the rupture of Enbridge Line 6 b into the Kalamazoo River, restoration efforts are still ongoing. The Gun Lake Tribe is still conducting inquiry projects to determine community impact from use of the Kalamazoo watershed, including the Kalamazoo River Cultural and Environmental Restoration Project, which was proposed to begin in March, but has been delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Gun Lake Tribe has a long-standing and critical interest in the waters of the Great Lakes as well as historical ties to the Straits. After the Anishinabek migrated from the Eastern Seaboard (near the mouth of the St. Lawrence River) to the place where “food grows on water,” the Pottawatomi traveled south through the Straits of Mackinac.
Sometime during the 17th century, many Pottawatomi returned north to live with allies, including their Three Fire Confederacy allies, the Ojibwe and Odawa, in areas such as the Straits of Mackinac until the Beaver Wars came to an end towardsthe end of the century. Gun Lake Tribe’s namesake, Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish, also comes from the Straits of Mackinac region.
