State’s reconsideration of Line 5 tunnel permits a win for our water

LANSING — The Michigan League of Conservation Voters today issued the following statement applauding an announcement by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy stating the department will be reconsidering permits it issued in July approving construction of a controversial tunnel to encase the 73-year-old Line 5 Pipeline that runs through the Straits of Mackinac. 

 

“The damaged Line 5 pipeline is the single-greatest threat to our Great Lakes, risking an oil spill that would impact more than 700 miles of Great Lakes shoreline. It is a ticking time bomb in the heart of our Great Lakes,” said Bentley Johnson, Federal Government Affairs Director for the Michigan League of Conservation Voters. “We are encouraged by the Whitmer administration’s decision to reconsider approval of Enbridge’s permits to build the tunnel around Line 5. Now it is clear that all efforts should be put towards removing Line 5 in the Great Lakes and pursuing the known and available alternatives to meet our state and region’s energy needs.” 

 

Also today, Gov. Whitmer sent a letter to Enbridge Energy urging them to cease treating the tunnel as the only viable alternative to Line 5, urging them to find alternatives to get Line 5 out of the water sooner. The letter can be viewed here. 

 

Line 5 has faced renewed scrutiny following two major developments this summer. On August 25, an unoccupied subcontractor truck rolled into an excavation at an Enbridge Line 5 project near Saxon, Wisconsin, striking the pipeline and triggering the release of roughly 31,000 barrels — about 1.3 million gallons — of natural gas liquids, primarily propane and butane. The incident forced evacuations and shut down Line 5 while crews responded. 

 

The Wisconsin incident came just weeks after the Michigan Supreme Court dealt another setback to Enbridge’s proposed Line 5 tunnel beneath the Straits of Mackinac. In a 6-1 decision on July 31, the Court vacated the Michigan Public Service Commission’s approval of the tunnel and sent the case back to the Commission, ruling that regulators had failed to adequately consider whether the project would extend Line 5’s operating life and cause additional environmental harm, fairly evaluate alternatives, or consider impacts to public trust resources. The ruling does not permanently block the tunnel, but requires the MPSC to conduct a more comprehensive environmental review before the project can receive state approval. 

 

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