Michigan regulators issued permits for Enbridge’s Great Lakes Tunnel Project to encase a replacement section of the Line 5 oil pipeline. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) approved the concrete tunnel beneath the Straits of Mackinac.
Officials concluded the project’s public and private necessity outweighed potential environmental impacts. The tunnel aims to mitigate spill risks from the existing 73-year-old dual pipelines currently resting on the lakebed.
Environmental groups and regional Native American tribes maintain legal challenges, arguing the project threatens the Great Lakes. Enbridge must still secure federal permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers before starting construction.