Bay Mills Indian Community filed a petition with a state agency this week in response to a Line 5 tunnel permit.
The tribe says Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy ignored its legal obligations to evaluate cultural resources in the Straits of Mackinac.
Bay Mills argues a state agency was premature in granting Enbridge a permit to build a tunnel beneath the Straits.
The tribe says there isn’t enough information about the cultural resources that could be disturbed.
The State Historic Preservation Office has also called existing archeological surveys of the Straits, quote “incomplete.”
Kathryn Tierney is a tribal attorney for Bay Mills.
She explains the significance of the area---
"It has been described by a noted ethnohistorian as the Garden of Eden of the Ojibwe people---- this is where everything started," said Tierney.
Bay Mills is asking EGLE to reconsider its decision to approve a permit.
A representative from the agency said the permit was issued in compliance with Michigan law.
