Canadian energy provider Enbridge has restarted service on its 645-mile Line 5 oil and natural gas 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.
Michigan regulators are reconsidering a previously issued environmental permit for the proposed Great Lakes Tunnel, which would be built under the strait to house a replacement for the twin Line 5 pipelines that currently lie in the bed of Lakes Michigan and Huron. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) is also asking Enbridge to find an alternative that would allow it to shut down existing pipelines without waiting for the tunnel to be built.
“I urge Enbridge to look for an alternative to both the existing dual pipelines and the tunnel, and to begin that work now,” he wrote in a Sept. 9 letter to Enbridge President and CEO Gregory Ebel. “Develop a planned and orderly transition that protects Michigan families and businesses and gets oil out of the Straits much sooner.”
She cites the Wisconsin accident as one of the reasons why the pipeline should be shut down in Michigan.
A portion of the Line 5 pipeline near Saxon, Wis., was damaged in August when an idle flatbed truck sending crews to the site drove into an excavation site and struck the line, releasing natural gas liquids, primarily propane and butane. which are transported in the pipeline as liquids but which rapidly vaporize into gases when exposed to normal outdoor conditions.
There were no injuries in the accident that occurred at the east end of the existing Line 5, where Enbridge is adding a bypass valve to connect the 12-mile-long pipeline that runs through tribal land to a $1 billion, 41-mile stretch it is building to bypass tribal land. The Bad River side of Lake Superior Chippewa is currently in legal proceedings to remove the pipeline.
Enbridge reported Sept. 12 that crews in Wisconsin successfully pressure tested the temporary bypass and are working to complete the return to service of Line 5.
“Work continues on the two priorities related to the incident: the safe control and repair of the incident site and the return of the line to service, following a plan approved by the federal regulator Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration,” the company says.
However, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Secretary Karen Hyun on Sept. 9 wrote a letter to Enbridge asking the company to halt construction of the bypass, which she said had not received the necessary approvals from her department and “so that 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 shut down the two-decade-old pipeline, is drawing renewed opposition from Whitmer and Phil Roos, director of the state’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy. Both say the state needs to consider the impact of a recent Michigan Supreme Court decision related to a previously issued project permit. On July 31, the court overturned the Michigan Public Service Commission’s December 2023 approval of the project, saying it had failed to properly apply 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 letter dated Sept. 9. “Until all these legal issues are resolved, the conditions under [the] permit prevents construction of the tunnel entrance from proceeding.”
Whitmer said, “I’ve been clear from day one that we need to get the existing Line 5 pipelines out of the Straits of Mackinac as quickly and safely as possible,” calling the 73-year-old undersea pipelines a “ticking time bomb.”
In his letter to Ebel, he notes that the Michigan portion of the pipeline has experienced anchor strikes in the past and “Right now, the line is closed due to damage from a truck that spilled more than a million gallons of natural gas liquids.”
In response to the idea that Enbridge would have to find an alternative to the Great Lakes Tunnel project, which was first proposed in 2018, Enbridge spokesman Ryan Duffy said, “Let’s be clear, we already have an agreement with the state of Michigan to move forward with the Great Lakes Tunnel project. Without years of litigation and political interference, this project would move toward completion.”
In addition to EGLE already approving key environmental permits for the tunnel project, the US 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 a major energy and critical infrastructure project,” Duffy said.
He added that Enbridge “remains willing to meet with the governor to seek ways to protect Michigan’s natural resources while ensuring the continued safe operation of critical energy infrastructure.”
