SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. — The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians announced Tuesday that it has joined with its fellow tribal governments to withdraw from the federal Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process for Enbridge’s Line 5 tunnel project. The decision comes after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) indicated that it intends to expedite the project’s approval under President Trump’s Executive Order declaring a national energy emergency.

The tribe had been an active participant as a cooperating agency in the EIS process, providing extensive feedback and emphasizing the project’s threats to the Straits of Mackinac — a region of profound cultural, environmental and economic significance to the Anishinaabeg people and Michiganders throughout the region.

“The decision to rush through the Line 5 approval process undermines our sovereignty and disregards the environmental and cultural risks associated with the tunnel project,” said Sault Tribe Chairman Austin Lowes.

Lowes said that the USACE’s recent actions have marginalized the tribe’s input and compromised the integrity of the consultation process.

In a press release announcing the tribe’s withdraw from the project, the tribe also said it was “unclear how the Line 5 tunnel project, which provides oil and natural gas almost exclusively to Canada fits with the intent of the Trump Administration’s Executive Order to ease energy costs on American citizens.”

“Our tribe had participated in the Line 5 environmental impact statement process in good faith and worked through the appropriate channels to meticulously document the danger this pipeline poses to our way of life,” said Lowes. “We thought we would be given a fair opportunity to demonstrate the importance of protecting our ancestral lands and waters for future generations and the catastrophic impact that a pipeline rupture could pose to the entire state. Clearly that will not be the case, and participating in the process any further would only give the project a false sense of legitimacy to what is clearly becoming a flawed and disingenuous process.”

The Sault Tribe said it remained dedicated to working with its fellow tribal nations to safeguard treaty rights and the natural resources within the ceded territories and will continue to explore all avenues to ensure that any projects impacting their lands and waters undergo thorough and transparent evaluation, respecting both environmental standards and Indigenous sovereignty.

The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians is the largest federally recognized tribe east of the Mississippi River with roughly 50,000 members. Headquartered in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., the tribe has landholdings, businesses, housing and other service centers throughout Michigan’s eastern Upper Peninsula. The tribe’s seven-county service area is made up of the easternmost seven counties of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula — roughly the area east of Marquette and south to Escanaba to the Canadian border.