Sault Ste. Marie, MI-- Following today’s announcement by Gov. Whitmer on a shift of her administration’s legal strategy in its opposition to the Line 5 pipeline, Sault Tribe Chairman Aaron Payment issued the following statement:
“The Sault Tribe remains united with all tribal nations in Michigan in our unwavering opposition to Line 5. I hope the Governor’s move is a retrenchment and not a retreat. On our tribal leader call with the Governor’s Legal Counsel today, we made clear that the Governor needs to make a clear statement that a tunnel is not tenable.
"Enbridge's failure to maintain the pipeline makes Line 5 an imminent threat to our community and the state of Michigan as a whole. I pledge to continue to work with the Governor and the Biden Administration to uphold our treaty rights and make clear that both the current pipeline and the proposed tunnel are in conflict with their values of transitioning to a clean energy future. We will continue our all-hands-on-deck effort until the pipeline is removed from the Straits entirely.”
