Enbridge wins state panel's OK to move Line 5 oil pipeline into straits tunnel - Detroit News
Enbridge gets state panel's OK to move Line 5 pipeline into tunnel
Enbridge wins state panel's OK to move Line 5 oil pipeline into straits tunnel
Beth LeBlanc
Delta Township — The Michigan Public Service Commission ruled Friday that the relocation of Enbridge Energy's Line 5 oil pipeline from the lakebed of the Straits of Mackinac to a yet-to-be-constructed tunnel beneath the lakebed is the "best option" to improve safety while still securing the "public need" for fossil fuels.
Commission Chair Dan Scripps, in approving a site permit for the project, noted the current placement of the dual pipeline on the lakebed west of the Mackinac Bridge, where it is exposed to a potential anchor strike, presents a risk that must be addressed.
"It’s clear," Scripps said. "We need to get those pipelines off the bottomlands and out of the Great Lakes.”
The commission did require Enbridge to make additional risk assessments and safety considerations while moving forward with its plans, but the approval vote still angered Line 5 and tunnel opponents who attended the meeting.
The motion to approve the site permit passed 2-0. Commissioner Alessandra Carreon abstained since she was recently appointed to the commission and had not been present for much of the debate on the matter. The two "yes" votes, Scripps and Commissioner Katherine Peretick, are both appointees of Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
The decision was greeted with outbursts from the packed meeting room of "Shut it down!" and "Blood on your hands." One of those addressing the panel said the commission should remove "public service" from its title after Friday's decision.
"You’ve broken my heart," said Lissa Spitz, a resident from Washtenaw County. "We are at the most critical time in human history right now. Our house is burning down. We must end the use of fossil fuels as soon as possible.”
Andrea Pierce, a member of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, said she was "disgusted" by the vote and expected there would be an appeal. She and others argued the pipeline and tunnel would soon be "obsolete" as the state moved away from fossil fuels.
"This will be on your heads for the rest of your lives,” Pierce said.
Whitmer's office said Friday it was reviewing the decision from the "independent" Michigan Public Service Commission and noted there are still pending federal lawsuits over the pipeline's operation and federal approvals Enbridge must obtain for its project.
"Our goal has always been to get the dual pipelines out of the water as quickly as possible while also working to secure our energy independence and lower the cost of energy for Michiganders," Whitmer spokeswoman Stacey LaRouche said.
An Enbridge official said Friday the company was pleased with the approval and felt it resulted from a "well thought out" and deliberative process.
"We think that this does the best job of protecting the Great Lakes while at the same time securing a vital energy resource for people that depend on it in Michigan and across the region in the U.S. and Canada," said Mike Fernandez, senior vice president and chief communications officer for Enbridge.
Tunnel plan deemed 'reasonable'
The vote came after Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nessel have engaged in so far unsuccessful litigation seeking to shut down the oil pipeline. It also came three days after the governor signed a bill mandating 100% "clean" energy by 2040, effectively banning the burning of coal for generating electricity.
Staff members told commissioners Friday that their analysis of Enbridge's siting request found there is a public need for Line 5's oil products, and that the route, location and design of the replacement pipeline is "reasonable" and a "significant improvement" to the current placement on the bottom of Lake Michigan.
There is no other feasible alternative, the commission said.
Transporting Line 5's light crude oil or natural gas liquids by barge, tanker, rail or truck "likely would increase environment impairment and increase the risk of spills that could significantly harm the Great Lakes and its environment," the commission said in a statement after Friday's meeting.
The commission put certain additional conditions on the site permit approval, including requirements that Enbridge make no significant changes to the route and location, that the company obtain approval from the commission before any third-party utility is located in the tunnel, and that Enbridge take certain safety precautions during construction.
More: Whitmer vows Michigan will lead 'clean energy future' in signing policy overhaul
The commission has been considering Enbridge's application to replace or relocate the segment of Line 5 connecting the Upper and Lower peninsulas since 2020. In June 2022, the commission delayed its decision, reopened the record in the case and asked the Canadian pipeline giant to provide more information on its plans to create a "full and complete record" of tunnel engineering and the safety of the current dual pipelines.
The Michigan Public Service Commission's approval was one of two remaining hurdles Enbridge needs to clear before it can begin construction on the tunnel announced in 2018. Enbridge is also waiting on a federal review by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which said earlier this year that its study would not be completed until late 2025.
Line 5 history
The Line 5 pipeline has been a source of controversy for nearly 15 years after a separate Enbridge pipeline, Line 6B, leaked into the Kalamazoo River in Marshall. It is considered one of the country's largest in-land oil spills in history.
Environmental advocates argued a similar spill from the 4.5-mile segment of Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac, where Lakes Michigan and Huron join, would have devastating effects on the Great Lakes. A 2018 anchor strike on Line 5 escalated those fears.
The 70-year-old pipeline carries oil from western Canada through northern Wisconsin, before crossing into the Upper Peninsula, where it travels east, before turning south and traveling through the Straits of Mackinac for 4.5 miles. Once the pipeline emerges from the straits, it travels south through the Lower Peninsula, then turns east, crosses under the St. Clair River and ends in Sarnia, Ontario.
Enbridge's Line 5 pipeline carries 22.7 million gallons a day of light sweet crude oil and natural gas liquids, which are used to make propane for heating and cooking.
More: Feds: Let Enbridge skip certain Line 5 inspections for 15 years
In 2018, Enbridge agreed to a deal with departing Republican Gov. Rick Snyder to build a straits tunnel to house a new segment of the pipeline; at that point, the tunnel was estimated to cost about $500 million.
Democrats Whitmer and Nessel, who both vowed on the campaign trail to shut down Enbridge's oil pipeline, challenged laws establishing a committee that approved the tunnel agreement shortly after taking office.
When the agreement was upheld, Whitmer tried to negotiate a shorter turnaround for tunnel completion, which Enbridge said it could not meet.
More: Army Corps angers critics, heartens Enbridge with Line 5 tunnel decision
More: Enbridge plots next move after judge sets Line 5 closure deadline in Wisconsin
Whitmer and Nessel both filed suits to shut down the tunnel, which Enbridge removed to federal court on the argument that federal regulators had sole jurisdiction over the operation of the pipeline.
When the federal judge upheld the removal of the cases to federal court, Whitmer dropped her case but Nessel continued to pursue hers. It is currently pending before the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
Apart from the ongoing lawsuit, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in October 2021, invoked a never-used 1977 treaty over Michigan's threats to shutter the pipeline. The treaty, Canada argued, prevents the U.S. government or Michigan from disrupting the operation of a transit pipeline if it harms the energy supply in either country.
The treaty negotiations are ongoing.