Enbridge ‘disappointed’
The Canadian Press – March 23, 2023 / 1:22 pm | Stories: 417614
Photo: The Canadian Press
This photo taken in October 2016 shows an aboveground section of Enbridge’s Line 5 at the Mackinaw City, Mich., pump station. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP – John Flesher
The timeline of a US review of a proposed Great Lakes tunnel that’s a critical part of Enbridge Inc.’s Line 5 pipeline replacement project has been pushed back by more than a year.
The US Army Corps of Engineers said Thursday it now expects to complete its draft environmental impact statement for Enbridge’s Line 5 tunnel permit application in spring 2025, rather than late 2023 as previously indicated.
The Canadian pipeline company says this will further delay the replacement of the dual pipelines in Michigan’s Straits of Mackinac and will essentially push the start of construction until at least 2026.
Enbridge first submitted its application for the Great Lakes tunnel project in April 2020.
The company says the project would cover only 6.4 km in length, will require no construction within the waters of the Straits, and is anticipated to impact less than one-quarter acre of wetlands.
Michigan has been in court for years with Calgary-based Enbridge in an effort to shut down Line 5, fearing a disaster in the Straits of Mackinac, the ecologically sensitive region where the pipeline crosses the Great Lakes.