Construction OK’d for pipeline’s tunnel

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich — This state’s environmental agency said Friday that it has approved construction of an underground tunnel to house a replacement for an oil pipeline in a channel linking two of the Great Lakes.

The decision, a victory for Enbridge Inc., comes as the Canadian company resists Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s demand to shut down its 68year-old line in the Straits of Mackinac.

Enbridge disputes her claim — echoed by environmentalists and native tribes — that the pipeline segment crossing the 4-mile-wide waterway is unsafe. But Enbridge had earlier sought to ease public concern by striking a deal with Whitmer’s predecessor, Republican Rick Snyder, in 2018 to run a new pipe through a tunnel to be drilled beneath the straits connecting Lake Huron and Lake Michigan.

The project requires permits from the state Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy and the Army Corps of Engineers. Liesl Clark, director of the Michigan agency and a Whitmer appointee, said the company’s application satisfied state legal requirements.