Latest news with #StraitsOfMackinac
E&E News
2 days ago
- Business
- E&E News
Army Corps advances Michigan pipeline tunnel
Building a pipeline tunnel under a Michigan waterway would cause some environmental damage but would also have 'beneficial' effects, according to a long-awaited environmental analysis from the Army Corps of Engineers. The agency concluded in its draft environmental impact statement that Enbridge's proposed Line 5 tunnel project would reduce the risk of a leak, while its construction could damage wetlands. The planned underground tunnel is designed to encase a replacement segment of the Line 5 pipeline, which moves light crude oil and natural gas liquids from Superior, Wisconsin, to Sarnia, Ontario, in Canada. The tunnel would run 3.6 miles underneath the lakebed of the Straits of Mackinac, making it a divisive project. Last week, Line 5 opponents gathered on Mackinac Island to speak against the project. Advertisement The Line 5 project is seeking a permit to cross the Straits of Mackinac and affect adjacent wetlands. The Army Corps fast-tracked the federal permitting process this spring, citing President Donald Trump's 'energy emergency' executive order, and plans to make a final decision by the end of this year.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Analysis on Line 5 project identifies short and long term risks
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Federal regulators have released a long-awaited study on the environmental impact of the Line 5 Project. On Friday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Detroit District published its initial analysis for the project that would seek to build an underground tunnel for the aging Enbridge oil pipeline that runs along the Straits of Mackinac. The federal review took over a year longer to publish than expected. Enbridge Energy wants to build a tunnel to hold a portion of its 70-year-old oil pipeline that sits at the bottom of the straits connecting Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. The project was proposed in 2018 at $500 million but has been bogged down by legal challenges. The four-mile pipeline currently moves about 23 million gallons of oil and natural gas liquids daily between Superior, Wisconsin, and Sarnia, Ontario. According to the report, building the tunnel would reduce the risk of things like boat anchors rupturing the pipeline, which could cause a potentially disastrous oil spill. In the short term, the report says construction lights and cranes would significantly impact views and disrupt recreational areas like the dark sky park. In the long run, the a loss of vegetation along both sides of the straits and the loss of hundreds of trees along the shoreline that contain numerous species of bats. Included in the analysis is a pledge from Enbridge saying they're determined to comply with all safety standards and replant vegetation where possible and contain erosion. The report is just an initial assessment. A final analysis is expected by autumn, with a permitting decision to follow. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Detroit District is conducting a 30-day public comment period on the project that lasts from May 30 to June 30. Anyone is welcome to provide comments or concerns using these methods: The . Virtual public meetings: Wednesday, June 18, 2025, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on or via audio: +1 646 558 8656 Wednesday, June 25, 2025, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. or via audio: +1 301 715 8592 Written comments (postmarked by June 30, 2025) mailed to: Line 5 Tunnel EIS 6501 Shady Grove Road, P.O. Box 10178 Gaithersburg, MD 20898 Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CBS News
5 days ago
- General
- CBS News
A Mackinac Bridge official died in 2010. It took 15 years to lay him to rest
A Michigan man who had a key role in building one of the longest bridges in the United States was buried 15 years after his death, after a funeral home near the iconic structure surprised the public by saying it still had his ashes. Larry Rubin was laid to rest Wednesday in Petoskey, 40 miles from the Mackinac Bridge, which connects Michigan's two peninsulas. For decades, Rubin was the senior staff member at the Mackinac Bridge Authority, which manages the bridge, a 5-mile span over the Straits of Mackinac that is considered the third-longest suspension bridge in the U.S. It opened in 1957. When the bridge was built, "he had an important role because the Authority needed someone to carry out their decisions. He served with excellence," Barbara Brown, a former board member, said Friday. Brown said she was "just shocked" when she saw Rubin's name listed in the St. Ignace newspaper. A funeral home was informing the public that it had many unclaimed cremains. His family apparently didn't pick them up after he died at age 97 in 2010. Val Meyerson of Temple B'nai Israel in Petoskey was familiar with the Jewish section of Greenwood Cemetery and aware that Rubin's first wife, Olga, was buried there in 1990. His name was already on the headstone in anticipation of eventual death. Meyerson said friends from the Bridge Authority helped pay for Rubin's interment. About two dozen people attended a graveside service led by a rabbi. "We all took turns filling in the grave, which was quite an honor," Brown said. "To have been neglected and forgotten for so long — it was moving."
CBS News
5 days ago
- Business
- CBS News
Army Corps analysis finds Great Lakes pipeline tunnel would have sweeping environmental impacts
Building an underground tunnel for an aging Enbridge oil pipeline that stretches across a Great Lakes channel could destroy wetlands and harm bat habitats but would eliminate the chances of a boat anchor rupturing the line and causing a catastrophic spill, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Friday in a long-awaited draft analysis of the proposed project's environmental impacts. The analysis moves the corps a step closer to approving the tunnel for Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac. The tunnel was proposed in 2018 at a cost of $500 million but has been bogged down by legal challenges. The corps fast-tracked the project in April after President Donald Trump ordered federal agencies in January to identify energy projects for expedited emergency permitting. A final environmental assessment is expected by autumn, with a permitting decision to follow later this year. The agency initially planned to issue a permitting decision in early 2026. With that permit in hand, Enbridge would only need permission from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy before it could begin constructing the tunnel. That's far from a given, though. Environmentalists have been pressuring the state to deny the permit. Meanwhile, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer are trying to win court rulings that would force Enbridge to remove the existing pipeline from the straits for good. Construction could have major short-term, long-term impacts The analysis notes that the tunnel would eliminate the risk of a boat anchor rupturing the pipeline and causing a spill in the straits, a key concern for environmentalists. But the construction would have sweeping effects on everything from recreation to wildlife. Many of the impacts, such as noise, vistas marred by 400-foot (121-meter) cranes, construction lights degrading stargazing opportunities at Headlands International Dark Sky Park and vibrations that would disturb aquatic wildlife would end when the work is completed, the report found. Other impacts would last longer, including the loss of wetlands and vegetation on both sides of the strait that connects Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, and the loss of nearly 300 trees that the northern long-eared bat and tricolored bat use to roost. Grading and excavation also could disturb or destroy archaeological sites. The tunnel-boring machine could cause vibrations that could shift the area's geology. Soil in the construction area could become contaminated and nearly 200 truck trips daily during the six-year construction period would degrade area roads, the analysis found. Gas mixing with water seeping into the tunnel could result in an explosion, but the analysis notes that Enbridge plans to install fans to properly ventilate the tunnel during excavation. Enbridge has pledged to comply with all safety standards, replant vegetation where possible and contain erosion, the analysis noted. The company also has said it would try to limit the loudest work to daytime hours as much as possible, and offset harm to wetlands and protected species by buying credits through mitigation banks. That money can then be used to fund restoration in other areas. "Our goal is to have the smallest possible environmental footprint," Enbridge officials said in a statement. The Sierra Club issued a statement Friday saying the tunnel remains "an existential threat." "Chances of an oil spill in the Great Lakes — our most valuable freshwater resource — skyrockets if this tunnel is built in the Straits," the group said. "We can't drink oil. We can't fish or swim in oil." Julie Goodwin, a senior attorney with Earthjustice, an environmental law group that opposes the project, said the corps failed to consider the impacts of a spill that could still happen on either side of the straits or stopping the flow of oil through the Great Lakes. "My key takeaways are the Army corps has put blinders are in service to Enbridge and President Trump's fossil fuel agenda," she said. Tunnel would protect portion of Line 5 running through straits Enbridge has been using the Line 5 pipeline to transport crude oil and natural gas liquids between Superior, Wisconsin, and Sarnia, Ontario, since 1953. Roughly 4 miles (6 kilometers) of the pipeline runs along the bottom of the Straits of Mackinac. Concerns about the aging pipeline rupturing and causing a potentially disastrous spill in the straits have been building over the last decade. Those fears intensified in 2018 when an anchor damaged the line. Enbridge contends that the line remains structurally sound, but it struck a deal with then-Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder's administration in 2018 that calls for the company to replace the straits portion of the line with a new section that would be encased in a protective underground tunnel. Enbridge and environmentalists spar in court battles Environmentalists, Native American tribes and Democrats have been fighting in court for years to stop the tunnel and force Enbridge to remove the existing pipeline from the straits. They've had little success so far. A Michigan appellate court in February validated the state Public Service Commission's permits for the tunnel. Nessel sued in 2019 seeking to void the easement that allows Line 5 to run through the straits. That case is still pending. Whitmer revoked the easement in 2020, but Enbridge challenged that decision and a federal appellate court in April ruled that the case can proceed. Another legal fight over Line 5 in Wisconsin About 12 miles (19 kilometers) of Line 5 runs across the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa's reservation in northern Wisconsin. That tribe sued in 2019 to force Enbridge to remove the line from the reservation, arguing it's prone to spilling and that easements allowing it to operate on the reservation expired in 2013. Enbridge has proposed a 41-mile (66-kilometer) reroute around the reservation. The tribe has filed a lawsuit seeking to void state construction permits for the project and has joined several other groups in challenging the permits through the state's contested case process. Please note: The above video is from a previous, related report
Fast Company
07-05-2025
- Business
- Fast Company
Under Trump's emergency order, this pipeline through the Great Lakes wetlands could get fast-tracked
The Army Corps of Engineers, citing a recent national energy emergency order by President Trump, has expedited a permit review for a new miles-long section of an oil and gas pipeline that would bore deep into protected wetlands bordering Canada and the United States. The pipeline request from Enbridge Energy, a Canadian company, would cut beneath the Straits of Mackinac—the connecting waterway between Lakes Michigan and Huron—to install a tunnel 12 times as wide as above-ground existing pipelines. Tribal groups that had been cooperating with the Corps' environmental impact statement for the project pulled out when they learned of the emergency review. The Corps announced April 15 that the project, known as Line 5, fits under Trump's January order. The project is part of a 645-mile pipeline between Superior, Wisconsin, and Sarnia, Ontario, that transports about 22 million gallons of oil and natural gas liquids daily, according to the company website. The Corps' decision to expedite consideration came days before a sweeping change by the U.S. Department of Interior to hasten energy reviews. The federal agency said beginning April 23 that energy-related projects and, specifically, environmental impact reviews of such projects will move with unprecedented speed and with truncated public comment. Energy, under Trump's order, refers to fossil fuels such as oil, gas, and coal, along with geothermal, nuclear and hydropower. The Corps operates within the Defense Department, not the Interior Department. While the Interior policies do not apply to Line 5, they are likely to accelerate fossil fuel projects in the coming months. New emergency procedures from both departments in response to Trump's executive order are 'really ploughing new ground,' said Dave Scott, a senior attorney at the Environment Law & Policy Center, a legal advocacy group. 'There is a massive and real risk that the public won't be able to engage meaningfully with decisions that government agencies like the Corps are making that have significant impacts on the environment,' Scott said. The Interior Department announced last week it was pursuing what it called an ' alternative National Environmental Policy Act,' to allow for sharply compressed timelines for projects that 'strengthen domestic energy supply.' Projects that require an environmental assessment, which the department said now takes a year to complete, will be reviewed within 14 days. Projects in need of an environmental impact statement, which the department said can result in two years of study, will be reviewed in 'roughly 28 days,' according to its announcement. Scott also noted a second executive order, Unleashing American Energy, further erodes environmental protections for new projects. It directs the Council on Environmental Quality to consider rescinding National Environmental Policy Act regulations, which are the rules that require federal agencies to consider environmental impact when issuing permits. Environmental groups have questioned the need and the rationale behind the pipeline change. 'We know that there is no national energy emergency,' said Julie Goodwin, senior attorney at Earthjustice, the country's biggest public interest environmental firm. The U.S. produces more crude oil than any other country, ever, and has for the past six years. The emergency process 'is really a gift to the fossil fuel industry,' Goodwin said. At issue is Enbridge's replacement of two 20-inch diameter pipelines now buried close to shore and resting or supported on the lakebed. Instead, it wants to dig a 3.6-mile-long tunnel, with a 21-foot diameter, into the Straits' lakebed. The Corps is still developing an environmental impact statement for the Straits project, which it acknowledges will 'permanently impact 1.52 acres of wetlands, including 1.01 acres within the Corps' responsibility under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act.' The statement is expected in June. 'The Detroit District has not yet determined the length of the public comment period for its Line 5 Tunnel,' the Corps said in an email. The standard comment period is 60 days, but the Corps' new policy for emergency reviews is 15 days. The Interior Department announcement last week may indicate a new public comment timeline in store for energy-related projects. In some cases, public comment at Interior would depend largely on the decision of department officials. Proposals found to have 'no significant impact' during an internal department assessment will have a report issued on a public website, the announcement said, and no public comment is required. For projects 'likely to have significant environmental impact,' a department official 'can determine the duration of the written comment period based on the nature of the action and the urgency of the emergency response, and the Department anticipates that most comment periods will be approximately 10 days,' Interior's announcement said. Regarding the pipeline project before the Corps, seven local tribes described the shortened environmental impact statement (EIS) process as 'unacceptable.' A letter was sent in March to the Corps and signed by representatives from the Bay Mills Indian Community, Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi, and Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi. 'Tribal Nations are no longer willing to expend their time and resources as Cooperating Agencies just so their participation may be used by the Corps to lend credibility to a flawed EIS process and document,' the letter said. The Corps 'has disregarded its commitments to cooperating agencies and its obligations under the National Environmental Policy Act by fully aligning itself with the applicant [Enbridge] at every step.' The emergency review process 'is really rewriting and bypassing critical and important laws for an unneeded pipeline,' said Beth Wallace, director of climate and energy at the National Wildlife Federation, the nonprofit conservation education and advocacy group. Enbridge has said the existing pipes, which date back to 1953, need replacement to prevent a possible oil spill. Burying the new pipeline section as much as 100 feet below the lakebed would 'eliminate the chance of a pipeline incident in the Straits,' according to the project website. 'Line 5 is critical energy infrastructure,' Enbridge said in an email to Inside Climate News. The tunnel project is 'designed to make a safe pipeline safer while also ensuring the continued safe, secure, and affordable delivery of essential energy to the Great Lakes region.' On its website, the company called its supply to Michigan 'vital' and said that 'Line 5 supplies 65% of propane demand in the Upper Peninsula, and 55% of Michigan's statewide propane needs.' Tribal groups, citizens, and environmentalists have called for decommissioning the pipeline out of concern for risks to freshwater sources and local ecosystems. The Great Lakes are the largest freshwater system on the planet, providing clean drinking water to more than 40 million people in the U.S. and Canada. 'Enbridge's own pipelines have capacity to pick up product and move it to the same exact refineries and facilities,' said Wallace of the National Wildlife Federation. Investing further in fossil fuel infrastructure also runs counter to Michigan's plan to reach 100 percent carbon neutrality by 2050, she added. An economic analysis by PLG Consulting, a Chicago-based logistics firm, examined how shutting down Line 5 could impact energy markets. 'Surging output' has made North America energy independent and 'there is no risk of supply shortages,' the PLG report from October 2023 found. There are a 'multitude' of alternative supply sources from both domestic and international sources that could fill in for Line 5. Even today, no refinery relies entirely on Line 5 for its crude oil supply, the PLG report said. Enbridge is still waiting on several federal and state permits before it can begin construction. The state of Michigan issued environmental permits for the tunnel project in 2021 but those will expire next year. Enbridge re-applied earlier this year to renew the permits. The Michigan Public Service Commission approved the tunnel project in 2023 although Enbridge still needs the permitting decision from the Army Corps. The activist group Oil and Water Don't Mix is also urging citizens to demand that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer deny the pipeline permit to protect the Great Lakes. 'The state of Michigan has the opportunity to shut down Line 5,' Earthjustice's Goodwin said. 'And that's what should happen.'
