Protesters met at the Michigan Capitol Thursday in opposition to Enbridge’s Line 5 oil pipeline.
The gathering takes place a day after a shutdown deadline ordered by Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
Leaders of several environmental groups started serving symbolic eviction notices to the lawyers and lobbyists of the Canadian oil transport company in Lansing and around the state.
Ross Fisher, an organizer with the group Oil and Water Don’t Mix, was among those who delivered the symbolic eviction notices at Enbridge’s offices in Lansing.
“Line 5 is in the worst possible place to have an oil spill in the Great Lakes, and that impacts not only Indigenous communities, that impacts our economy, tourism," Fisher said. "All the things that Michigan relies on would be devastated by Line 5".
Mary Brady Enerson, the executive director of Clean Water Action in Michigan, was also among the dozens of protesters in the city on Thursday.
“Let everyone know that the people of Michigan don’t want this thing," Enerson said. "Enbridge is trespassing. They aren’t trustworthy and we want them out of here".
In November 2020, Governor Whitmer gave Enbridge Energy 180 days to stop transporting oil under the Straits of Mackinac. Enbridge has filed a lawsuit claiming it's up to the federal government to regulate the safety of the pipeline and not the state of Michigan.