As developer recovers from pipeline accident in Wisconsin, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer wants company to abandon plans for proposed oil and natural gas lines enclosure
Canadian energy provider Enbridge has resumed service on its 645-mile Line 5 oil and natural gas liquids pipeline using a temporary bypass around a section damaged during an August accident in northern Wisconsin, but the company faces another hurdle in how the line will cross the Straits of Mackinac in Michigan.
Regulators in Michigan are reconsidering a previously issued environmental permit for the proposed Great Lakes Tunnel, which would be built beneath the Straits to house a replacement for the twin Line 5 pipelines currently lying on the lakebed of Lakes Michigan and Lake Huron. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) also is calling on Enbridge to pursue an alternative that would allow existing pipelines to be shut down without waiting for the tunnel to be built.
“I am calling on Enbridge to pursue an alternative to both the existing dual pipelines and the tunnel, and to begin that work now,” she wrote in a Sept. 9 letter to Enbridge President and CEO Gregory Ebel. “Develop a planned, orderly transition that protects Michigan families and businesses and gets oil out of the Straits far sooner.”
She cites the accident in Wisconsin as one reason why the pipeline should be closed in Michigan.
A portion of the Line 5 pipeline near Saxon, Wis., was damaged in August when an unoccupied flatbed truck delivering equipment to the site rolled into an excavation site and struck the line, releasing natural gas liquids, mainly propane and butane. which are transported in the pipeline as liquids but rapidly vaporize into gases when exposed to normal outdoor conditions.
There were no injuries in the accident that occurred on the far east side of the existing Line 5 where Enbridge is adding a bypass valve to connect the 12-mile-long pipe that crosses tribal lands to a $1-billion, 41-mile stretch it is building to eventually avoid tribal lands. The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa is currently in legal proceedings to have the pipeline removed.
Enbridge reported on Sept. 12 that crews in Wisconsin successfully pressure tested the temporary bypass and are working to finalize Line 5 return to service.
“Around-the-clock work continues toward both priorities related to the incident—the safe control and remediation of the incident site and returning the line to service—following a plan approved by federal regulator Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration,” the company says.
Nonetheless, Karen Hyun, secretary of the Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources on Sept. 9 wrote a letter to Enbridge asking the company to halt construction of the bypass which, she said, had not received necessary approvals from her department and “so Enbridge can prioritize addressing the unresolved spill at the NGL spill site.”
In Michigan, the Great Lakes Tunnel Project, the four-mile-long tunnel proposed to enclose the two decades-old pipelines, is attracting renewed opposition from Whitmer and Phil Roos, director of the state’s Dept. of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy. Both say the state must consider the impact of a recent Michigan Supreme Court decision related to a previously issued project permit. The court on July 31 vacated the Michigan Public Service Commission’s December 2023 approval of the project, asserting that it had not properly applied the Michigan Environmental Protection Act when reviewing the proposed project.
“With the Michigan Supreme Court invalidating the …. permit because its analysis was too narrow, we understand that [it] may need further review through the legal process,” Roos said in a Sept. 9 letter. “Until all those legal questions are resolved, conditions in [the] permit prevent construction of the tunnel entrance from moving forward.”
Whitmer said, “I’ve been clear from day one that we must get the existing dual Line 5 pipelines out of the Straits of Mackinac as quickly and safely as possible,» calling the 73-year-old underwater pipelines a «ticking time bomb.»
In her letter to Ebel, she notes that the Michigan portion of the pipeline has previously suffered anchor strikes and «Right now, the line is shut down because of damage from a truck that dispersed more than a million gallons of natural-gas liquids.»
Responding to the notion that Enbridge should find an alternative to the Great Lakes Tunnel project, which was first proposed in 2018, Enbridge spokesperson Ryan Duffy said, «Let’s be clear, we already have an agreement with the State of Michigan to advance the Great Lakes Tunnel Project. Without years of litigation and political intervention, this project would be moving toward completion.»
In addition to EGLE already approving key environmental permits for tunnel project, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved the project to move forward after six years of review, he added.
«The Corps’ Environmental Impact Statement represents the highest standard of environmental review required for major critical energy and infrastructure project,» Duffy said.
He added that Enbridge «continues to stand ready to meet with the governor to look at ways that protect Michigan’s natural resources while ensuring the continued safe operation of critical energy infrastructure.»
