(Source: MIRS.news, Published 12/26/2023) Two environmental groups appealed the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC)’s decision to approve the Line 5 tunnel project in the Straits of Mackinac.
On Dec. 1, the MPSC approved Enbridge Energy’s plan to replace the segment of the Line 5 pipeline crossing the Straits with a concrete tunnel, on the condition the replacement undergoes additional safety testing and standards.
The Environmental Law & Policy Center and Michigan Climate Action Network filed an appeal Friday in the Michigan Court of Appeals.
An Enbridge spokesperson couldn't be reached today for comment.
“One of the Commission’s primary responsibilities under Michigan law is to evaluate whether there are feasible and prudent alternatives to projects like this that will pose fewer environmental risks and cost less money," Scott Strand, senior attorney at ELPC, said in press release.
"But the Commission simply refused to consider the best alternative out there, which is simply to shut down the old Line 5 pipelines under the Straits and not replace them with a new pipeline at all,” he added. “The shippers and refineries who currently use Line 5 have lots of options, but the Commission was just not interested in anything but a new way to run crude oil under one of the most environmentally vulnerable natural assets we have in this region."
MPSC Commission Chair Dan Scripps said on the MIRS Monday Podcast on Dec. 8 the Commission lacked the authority to shut down Line 5, noting that relying more on trucks and rail would “likely cause additional environmental impairment, beyond routing it in a tunnel.”.
Construction will not begin until the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completes the federal permitting process. The Corps said in March that a draft environmental impact statement likely won’t be completed until spring 2025.
Line 5 has been the subject of litigation and policy efforts, with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nessel aiming to close the dual pipelines.
Nessel filed suit in Ingham County Circuit Court, but Enbridge successfully moved the lawsuit to the federal court while Whitmer dismissed her 2020 suit to focus on Nessel’s.
