Michigan environmental groups are pushing back as Enbridge’s Line 5 tunnel faces emergency review, potentially bypassing full scrutiny and public input. This move comes after President Donald Trump’s executive order declared a national energy emergency to fast-track infrastructure projects.
Environmentalists warn a Line 5 tunnel leak threatens the Great Lakes.
Sean McBrearty of ‘Oil and Water Don’t Mix’ believes public outcry over the past week, led the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to remove 600 emergency-designated projects, including Line 5, from its website.
“Now we don’t know whether they’ve changed the status of those projects, or like the proposed status of those projects, or whether they’re still doing the same thing and just attempting to hide it from the public,” McBrearty said.
The tunnel would replace lakebed pipelines beneath the Straits of Mackinac with a concrete-lined enclosure for Line 5.
In a statement Enbridge says, in part, Michigan approved environmental permits and tunnel placement for Line 5, but after nearly five years, the project still awaits a U.S. Army Corps decision on its environmental impact.
