Michigan environmental regulators on Tuesday announced they are seeking input on a request to reissue one of the permits needed to move forward with construction on the controversial Line 5 tunnel project.
Between May 19 and June 30, the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy will take public comment on Canadian pipeline company Enbridge’s application for a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit, which would allow the company to discharge up to 6 million gallons of wastewater per day into Lake Michigan between two separate sites.
Tribal nations and environmental groups from across the Great Lakes region have repeatedly called for a shutdown of Line 5, a 645-mile-long pipeline running from northwest Wisconsin to southwest Ontario, with a 4.5-mile segment located in the Straits of Mackinac, where Lake Michigan meets Lake Huron.
Opponents of the pipeline, including Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, have likened Line 5 to a ticking time bomb, pointing to the 2010 oil spill at Enbridge’s Line 6B, and multiple anchor strikes which damaged the dual pipelines as warning signs of what would be a catastrophic oil spill within the Great Lakes.
While Enbridge has agreed to replace the dual pipelines with a new segment housed within a utility tunnel embedded beneath the bedrock of the Straits of Mackinac, those opposed to the pipeline are warning that the tunnel project carries its own risks, which could lead to the pipeline releasing oil and natural gas into the Great Lakes.
According to Enbridge’s application, the reissued permit would allow the company to release wastewater generated through construction and testing at one site located on the Upper Peninsula to the north and another on the Lower Peninsula to the south, after the water is treated onsite.
While the public can comment on the draft permit through EGLE’s public notice portal, the department is also hosting an online meeting and hearing on Zoom at 6 p.m. on June 18.
