Court ruling delays proposed tunnel for Great Lakes pipeline

Enbridge officials said a Michigan Supreme Court ruling has significantly delayed plans to encase the Line 5 pipeline beneath the Straits of Mackinac in a concrete tunnel. The court ordered state regulators to redo a 2023 permit after finding they had not properly considered the project’s environmental impact, a process that could take years.

The comments came as the project received a federal permit and after a Line 5 leak in northern Wisconsin temporarily shut down part of the pipeline. Enbridge said an unoccupied semi-truck struck a pipe at a valve construction site; no one was injured, and air-quality investigations continued.

Public speakers at a meeting in St. Ignace opposed the tunnel, while Enbridge said it would provide additional protection for the Great Lakes. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer also filed a brief in a separate lawsuit challenging the project’s legality.

Read the full story at michiganpublic.org.