ANN ARBOR, Mich.— The diesel spill in Lake Michigan is a clarion call to remove all major sources of fossil fuels from the Great Lakes, protecting the nation's largest sources of freshwater.

“This incident illustrates just how vulnerable the Great Lakes are to oil spills,” said Rebecca Meuninck, Ph.D., Great Lakes regional executive director for the National Wildlife Federation. “We’ll be monitoring the ongoing containment and clean-up effort and doubling down on our calls to remove even greater risks of oil spills, such as Line 5, from the Great Lakes.”

It also highlights that with Line 5 running under the Straits of Mackinac, north of the diesel spill, we are still one anchor strike away from catastrophe.

"This is a glaring reminder that we are too close to devastation. It’s time to remove Line 5 from the Great Lakes," said Beth Wallace, freshwater campaigns manager for the National Wildlife Federation. "A spill of 1,000 gallons is unacceptable by all measures, but it is a drop in the bucket compared to the damage that Line 5 would cause."

Oil spills in the Great Lakes have the potential to destroy ecosystems and hamstring fishing and tourism industries in the Great Lakes. This spill of 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel may have significant impacts on fish and wildlife within the plume. All available resources should be leveraged to stop the spread and begin clean up for all people and wildlife. With storms in the area, the cleanup could be much more difficult. Unsafe boating conditions do not allow for responders to enter the containment area. With more time passing, the ecological impacts spread, along with the diesel.