DETROIT – Long-awaited federal review of a plan for a pipeline tunnel beneath the Great Lakes is officially underway.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials on Monday, Aug. 15, 2022, launched a 60-day period when the public can help determine the scope of issues and any alternatives to a Canadian energy company’s plan to build a tunnel beneath Michigan’s Straits of Mackinac to house an oil and gas pipeline.
The federal agency is expected to receive thousands of public comments about the controversial plan, which calls for Enbridge’s existing underwater Line 5 pipeline that runs along Lake Michigan bottomlands to be rerouted into a new tunnel built through the bedrock beneath the lake.
The Corps intends to ensure all voices are heard in an open and transparent public process, said Corps Detroit District Commander Lt. Col. Brett Boyle.
This “scoping period” will help identify areas for in-depth review, such as historic properties, water quality, general environmental effects, and other issues, Boyle said.
The next two months will help establish parameters for what’s expected to be a thorough environmental assessment of the tunnel plan. A draft of that analysis is expected to be ready for public review in autumn next year, officials said.
That environmental impact assessment ultimately will help Corps officials decide whether to approve or deny the tunnel plan, or to approve with conditions.
Public comments will be accepted in writing, and officials said both online and in-person public meetings are expected to be scheduled within this period to accept verbal comments. The deadline for comments during this period is Oct. 14, 2022.
Tribal nations, organizations, and individuals can weigh in on the tunnel plan; two prior public comment periods in 2020 about the tunnel plan garnered more than 15,000 public comments and tribal positions.
This is the latest step in a years-long fight over this section of Line 5, a nearly 70-year-old dual pipeline on the lakebed that each day transports 23 million gallons of petrochemicals.
Those on both sides of the controversy said they were eager for the federal review to shove off.
Enbridge officials said state and federal permitting processes drive the calendar for the tunnel and they hope supporters will participate, as they intend to collaborate in the public reviews.
“Enbridge is committed to working with the Corps to reduce environmental impacts from construction and operation. Once complete, the tunnel will make Line 5′s crossing of the Straits even safer, while creating Michigan jobs and securing the needed energy for consumers in Michigan and the region,” said Michael Barnes, company spokesperson.
But those who want the tunnel plan sunken said they also were happy to see the Corps publish its notice of intent to review the project.
Sean McBrearty, coordinator of the Oil & Water Don’t Mix campaign to shut down Line 5, said they are hopeful the Corps will conduct a thorough review of the tunnel plan.
“Any honest and thorough review of this proposal can only end in denial of the requested permits,” he said.
Opponents to the plan – including environmental advocates and tribal groups – argue a tunnel brings risk of explosion and oil leaks that could wreak havoc on the natural environment and local economy, and that investment in new fossil fuel infrastructure would be counterproductive given the climate crisis and worldwide urgency to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
But proponents contend a tunnel is needed to maintain energy market stability in the Midwest and would heighten environmental protections for the pipeline that is now exposed to Great Lakes waters and strong currents in the Straits of Mackinac.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer revoked the company’s Great Lakes bottomlands easement and ordered the line closed in 2020, which sparked multiple lawsuits between high-ranking state officials and the company.
Last year, a federal judge ruled a lawsuit between the governor and the Canadian fuel transportation giant should remain under federal jurisdiction. Afterward, Whitmer dropped her suit to support Attorney General Dana Nessel’s instead, which had been paused in state court.
Enbridge also filed to send the AG’s case to federal court; a decision remains pending.
State environmental regulators already approved permits for Enbridge to build the tunnel, as well as the Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority. However, a judge recently reinstated a tribal legal challenge to permits issued by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE).
The EGLE permits are not the final word on Enbridge’s tunnel plan, which still needs to clear a similar federal approval and a lengthy review by the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC), which recently sought more details about the company’s tunnel plans.
The earliest the tunnel could be completed is estimated to be in 2028. Costs were estimated at $500 million in 2018.
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