Line 5: Michigan panel wants details on Great Lakes oil tunnel plan

A Michigan regulatory panel mentioned Thursday that it wants extra details about security dangers earlier than it might rule on Enbridge’s plan to increase an oil pipeline by way of a tunnel beneath a waterway linking two of the Nice Lakes.

The state Public Service Fee voted 3-0 to hunt additional particulars in regards to the potential for explosions and fires involving electrical gear throughout building of the tunnel beneath the Straits of Mackinac.

The fee’s approval can be required for Enbridge to switch two present Line 5 pipes within the straits, which join Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, with a brand new section that will run by way of the proposed underground tunnel.

“This has been an intensive course of,” Chairman Dan Scripps mentioned. “We wish to ensure that we get it proper.”

Enbridge and the state of Michigan are mired in authorized battles over Line 5. The 69-year-old underground pipeline carries Canadian oil and pure fuel liquids used for propane by way of northern Michigan and Wisconsin to refineries in Sarnia, Ont.

A 6.4-kilometre-long part divides into twin pipes that cross the underside of the straits.

READ MORE: Ottawa information court docket temporary supporting Enbridge in Line 5 dispute with Michigan

Enbridge is defying Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s 2020 order to close down the road, a transfer lengthy sought by environmental and Indigenous teams who worry a rupture would devastate the lakes. The corporate says the road is in good situation and contends in a federal lawsuit that the Democratic governor doesn’t have the jurisdiction to close it down.

Enbridge, based mostly in Calgary, reached a take care of former Republican Gov. Rick Snyder in 2018 to construct the USD$500-million tunnel. Enbridge has obtained permits from the Michigan Division of Surroundings, Nice Lakes and Vitality and awaits phrase from the U.S. Military Corps of Engineers in addition to Michigan Public Service Fee.

The fee mentioned final 12 months it could not cross judgment on whether or not the whole 1,038-kilometre line ought to proceed working, focusing as a substitute on the underwater part.

Its three members are Whitmer appointees. Scripps and Tremaine Phillips are Democrats, whereas Katherine Peretick is an impartial.

In its order Thursday, the fee mentioned testimony, reveals and briefings included too little about tunnel engineering and hazards.

Additionally missing is details about security and upkeep of the twin pipelines, “together with leak detection programs and shutdown procedures,” the order mentioned.

Interviewed by phone after the assembly in Lansing, Scripps mentioned Enbridge had pegged the chance of an oil launch from the tunnel pipe as “one in 1,000,000.” The fee desires to know the way the determine was calculated, he mentioned, in addition to steps to eradicate even that risk.

In a press release, Enbridge mentioned it already had offered “intensive” materials on these issues however would reply additional questions.

“The engineering and design of the tunnel has been developed in accordance with the tunnel settlement entered with the state, and in shut co-ordination with the Mackinac Straits Hall Authority to make sure its security and design life,” the corporate mentioned.

The hall authority was created below Snyder to supervise constructing and operation of the tunnel.

Pipeline critics praised the fee’s push to study extra.

“Enbridge has not confirmed feasibility or security for this venture,” mentioned Beth Wallace of the Nationwide Wildlife Federation. “Enbridge has confirmed repeatedly that they can’t be trusted to function Line 5 and so they shouldn’t be trusted to blast a tunnel by way of the Nice Lakes.”

The fee’s resolution was the newest of many delays for the tunnel, which the corporate initially pledged to finish by 2024. The Military Corps is conducting a prolonged environmental impression examine.

Enbridge mentioned it stays dedicated to the venture.

The Nice Lakes Michigan Jobs Coalition, which represents business and labor teams, urged the fee to “get again to work, transfer the tunnel venture ahead and defend tens of 1000’s of Michigan jobs.”