Michigan approves oil pipeline tunnel permits

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Michigan’s environmental agency said Friday it has approved construction of an underground tunnel to house a replacement for a controversial 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 W hit me r’ s demand to shut down its 68-year-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.

Enbridge has pledged to cover all costs of the $500 million project, which it says will be completed by 2024.

The tunnel “will make a safe pipeline even safer,” spokesman Ryan Duffy said, describing the permit approval as “an important milestone” for a project “virtually eliminating the potential for any release from Line 5 into the straits.”

Environmental groups and tribes fighting to decommission Enbridge’s Line 5, which transports oil and natural gas liquids used in propane between Superior, Wisconsin, and Sarnia, Ontario, also oppose the tunnel. They say it would pollute the waters, harm fish and damage shoreline wetlands while boosting use of fossil fuels that contribute to global warming.

Critics contend the pipes are vulnerable to a rupture that could contaminate Great Lakes waters and miles of shorelines, a hazard that became more urgent after a barge anchor was dragged across them in 2018, doing minor damage.

Whitmer last fall ordered a shutdown of Line 5 by May, saying Enbridge repeatedly had violated an easement allowing pipeline operations in the straits. The company is challenging the order in federal court and said recently it would not comply.