Courtesy Photo The Mackinac Station of Line 5, which runs through the Straits of Mackinac, is seen in this undated photo provided by Ryan Duffy. Enbridge Inc. is proposing a project to run the pipeline underground.

ALPENA — On Wednesday, Enbridge Inc. announced that its tunnel boring technology has been designed for the controversial Great Lakes Tunnel Project, a project involving the construction of a four-mile-long tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac to house the Line 5 pipeline. Following President Donald Trump’s executive order, the permitting process has been expedited to meet the demands of a national emergency.

According to Enbridge, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Detroit District, issued a statement on May 2 that they would make a final decision on the permit in Fall 2025. The USACE, Detroit District, states in their press release that they will be accepting public comments from May 30 to June 30 as part of the permitting process.

“Public participation is an important part of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process to ensure a thorough environmental analysis, and an effective, consistent, and well-informed decision,” Detroit District Commander Lt. Col. Wallace Bandeff said in the USACE press release.

USACE, Detroit District, also states that they are processing the permit application using the special processing procedures given by the presidential Executive Order 14156. In this order, Trump declared a national emergency after concluding that the United States’ insufficient energy production posed a threat to the country’s economy, national security, and foreign policy.

“The Detroit District continues to prepare an (Environmental Impact Statement) EIS and comply with all applicable legal and policy requirements, including its federal trust responsibility to Tribal Nations, the National Historic Preservation Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act,” Lt. Col. Bandeff said in the USACE, Detroit District, press release.

Ryan Duffy, corporate communications and media relations strategist at Enbridge, explained that Line 5 is an important infrastructure, and the tunnel project will enhance the safety and reliability of energy transportation.

“To date, more than 40,000 field hours of environmental and cultural survey work have been completed in the Straits to inform regulators and the public of our approach to environmental and public health protection and to respond to the USACE’s demanding permitting process,” Duffy said.

Further, Duffy noted ongoing safety measures that Enbridge employs with Line 5, which include 24/7 digital leak protection monitoring, a 0.82-inch pipe wall thickness, corrosion prevention, reduced pipeline pressure, automatic isolation valves, and 200 steel supports. Additionally, Enbridge conducts annual and quarterly inspections.

“The Great Lakes Tunnel makes what has always been a safe pipeline even safer by enclosing a replacement section of pipeline inside the tunnel, more than 200 feet below the lakebed,” Duffy said. “The tunnel walls are concrete and more than a foot thick, and the tunnel eliminates the risk of an anchor strike from a passing ship and eliminates the chance of any product ever being released into the water.”

Duffy explained that Line 5 is an important source of 540,000 natural gas liquids (used to make propane) and a crude oil supply for Michigan, Ontario, Quebec, and surrounding areas. If Line 5 ceases operations, these areas will experience a shortage of 14 million gallons a day of gas, diesel, and jet fuel. Duffy said this represents 45% of the fuel supply in the aforementioned areas.

Though Enbridge asserts the safety of Line 5 and the necessity of the tunnel project, environmental groups are not so convinced.

Oil and Water Don’t Mix, a nonprofit group working to shut down Line 5, stated its opposition to the recent presidential executive order on April 21 in a press release.

“The proposed Line 5 tunnel would destroy wetlands, disrupt aquatic habitats and perpetuate our reliance on fossil fuels during a critical time for climate action,” Oil and Water Don’t Mix stated in the press release. “Because the Army Corps is truncating its environmental impact statement (EIS) process for this project, located in one of the most sensitive ecosystems in North America, the need for the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) to commence a separate, full permitting process for the Line 5 oil tunnel is becoming extremely urgent.”

Meag Shwartz, president and founder of Great Lakes Great Responsibility, is also opposed to the Line 5 project and stated that she is not convinced the tunnel project is a safe solution.

“From the perspective of Great Lakes Great Responsibility, the proposed Line 5 tunnel poses significant environmental concerns that conflict with our mission to protect the Great Lakes from pollution and ecological harm,” Shwartz said. “While the tunnel is presented as a safer alternative to the aging oil pipeline running through the Straits of Mackinac, the continued transport of fossil fuels under the lakes remains a risk to freshwater ecosystems. Any spill — during construction or operation — could have devastating, long-term impacts on the world’s largest freshwater system, not to mention the economic impacts to local tourism. The pipeline needs to be removed, and investments into alternate routes need to be made as soon as possible.”

Kayla Wikaryasz can be reached at 989-358-5688 or kwikaryasz@TheAlpenaNews.com.