Michigan to revisit Line 5 tunnel permits after court ruling

Line 5 Great Lakes Tunnel Project Enbridge environmental permits Straits of Mackinac

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) have announced a new review of permits for Enbridge’s proposed Line 5 tunnel project beneath the Straits of Mackinac. This decision follows a July 31 ruling by the Michigan Supreme Court, which determined that the state must more thoroughly scrutinize environmental consequences and consider alternatives to the proposed tunnel.

The tunnel project was intended to house replacement pipelines for the existing 73-year-old dual Line 5 pipelines currently resting on the lakebed. While EGLE issued a resource permit for the tunnel on July 15, the Supreme Court's subsequent decision requires a reassessment of potential environmental harms and impacts on public trust resources.

Governor Whitmer has called on Enbridge to pursue alternatives that can move oil out of the Straits more quickly than the tunnel, which could take a decade or longer to complete. The Governor emphasized the need to protect the Great Lakes from the risks posed by the aging pipelines.