LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Line 5, Enbridge’s 72-year-old oil and natural gas parallel pipelines beneath the Straits of Mackinac, has long been a political piñata. For years, top Democrats – including Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nessel – have tried to shut down Enbridge’s Great Lakes Tunnel Project, citing risks of anchor strikes, aging steel, and the nightmare scenario of two Great Lakes becoming one massive oil slick.

But on December 1, 2023, the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) gave Enbridge the green light to reroute the pipeline into a new concrete tunnel beneath the lakebed. Problem solved? Not exactly.

Tribes and green groups say “not in our waters.”

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Several Michigan tribes, including the Bay Mills Indian Community and Grand Traverse Band, along with environmental groups like FLOW (For the Love of Water) and the Michigan Climate Action Network, argue that the MPSC skipped crucial steps. They say treaty rights, cultural sites, and climate impacts were brushed aside.

Courtroom drama, Great Lakes edition.

Earlier this year, the Michigan Court of Appeals sided with Enbridge, ruling that the MPSC had done its due diligence. Now, however, the state Supreme Court has agreed to take up not one but two challenges to that permit. That means Michigan’s highest court, which is ruled by Democrats, will decide whether the MPSC dotted all its i’s and crossed all its environmental t’s.

Court battles and delays keep Enbridge’s tunnel dream waiting in the wings.

Enbridge spokesperson, Ryan Duffy, was on the Steve Gruber show on Thursday, September 25 to talk about the issue. He emphasized that the tunnel project has already cleared multiple layers of review and that the Court of Appeals held that the MPSC had issued a “comprehensive and detailed opinion,” considered relevant evidence (including on greenhouse gas emissions), and acted reasonably, rejecting arguments that the commission’s review was deficient.

Now with the Michigan Supreme Court agreeing to hear challenges brought by environmental and tribal groups, Duffy says the company remains confident in the process and with MPSC’s decision to approve the project, which took more than three years to complete after careful review. He said about his tunnel team, “They’re hard at work each and every day, moving this project forward, focused on the work they need to do.”

Duffy added that the project is designed to replace the existing pipeline segment under the Straits with one buried deep in bedrock, making “what has always been a very safe pipeline that much safer.”

Permits drive the timeline.

At the same time, the drawn-out permitting process continues to shape the project’s future. Enbridge secured a key permit from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) in 2021, but the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has yet to issue its final decision.

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That delay risks the EGLE permit expiring in early 2026, right when Enbridge hopes to break ground. “Permitting really is driving the timeline,” Duffy noted, though he pointed to signs the Army Corps could issue a final environmental impact statement and permit decision by the end of this year. He also stressed the economic upside of the Line 5 project, with more than 2 million labor hours projected – most of them filled by Michigan workers. Additionally, he claimed support from over 70% of residents including the support of those who weighed in during public comment periods.