{"id":72409,"date":"2026-02-06T11:35:45","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T16:35:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/?p=72409"},"modified":"2026-02-06T16:41:47","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T21:41:47","slug":"feds-take-another-step-toward-decision-on-line-5-tunnel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/michigan-environment-watch\/feds-take-another-step-toward-decision-on-line-5-tunnel\/","title":{"rendered":"Feds take another step toward decision on Line 5 tunnel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Federal regulators took another step toward a permitting decision on the Line 5 petroleum pipeline tunnel<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>A final decision on the project is expected as soon as next month<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Both tunnel supporters and foes anticipate the US Army Corps of Engineers will approve the project<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>The US Army Corps of Engineers on Friday took another step toward approving the proposed Line 5 tunnel beneath the Straits of Mackinac, publishing its final analysis of the project\u2019s potential impacts on the environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The move sets the timer on a 30-day waiting period, after which the agency will decide whether to issue key permits for the project to replace the existing segment of the 73-year-old petroleum pipeline that sits in the open water of the Great Lakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fears that the pipeline could rupture, causing a catastrophic oil spill in one of the world\u2019s most important freshwater reserves, have underpinned years of competing efforts to either it shut down \u2014 the preferred alternative of environmental groups \u2014 or relocate it into a concrete-lined tunnel \u2014 the preferred alternative of Canadian oil giant Enbridge Energy and allied labor and business groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Corps\u2019 publication Friday of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.line5tunneleis.com\/draft-eis-copy\/\">final environmental impact statement<\/a> comes as the Trump administration looks to bolster fossil fuel energy and forestall renewable energy development. In response to that policy stance, the Corps abolished plans to consider climate impacts caused by the tunnel project.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p><strong>RELATED:<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/michigan-environment-watch\/michigan-supreme-court-to-consider-line-5-permit-challenges\/\"><strong>Michigan Supreme Court to consider Line 5 permit challenges<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/michigan-environment-watch\/line-5-tunnel-option-rushed-and-unsafe-opponents-say\/\"><strong>Line 5 tunnel option \u2018rushed\u2019 and unsafe, opponents say<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/michigan-environment-watch\/federal-judge-michigan-has-no-authority-to-shut-down-line-5\/\"><strong>Federal judge: Michigan has no authority to shut down Line 5<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Corps spokesperson Carrie Fox declined to comment on the release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Friday\u2019s environmental review largely mimics a draft version released in May, in which Corps officials <a href=\"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/michigan-environment-watch\/us-officials-release-line-5-environmental-review-conclude-project-needed\/\">concluded<\/a> that most impacts from the tunnel-drilling project would be \u201cshort-term with the effects resolving once construction is completed.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Still, the agency acknowledged that the project would destroy several acres of wetlands, reduce habitat for endangered northern long-eared and tricolored bats and harm archaeological sites and places that are culturally important to Native American tribes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While tunnel supporters hailed Friday\u2019s release as \u201ca big step forward\u201d for the tunnel project, environmentalists panned the project and criticized the Corps for failing to reach a conclusion about the tunnel project\u2019s impact on tribal treaty rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Corps review says those impacts are \u201cTo Be Determined in the Record of Decision.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThat is not environmental justice, and it is not meaningful consultation,\u201d Sean McBrearty, campaign coordinator for Oil &amp; Water Don\u2019t Mix, an anti-Line 5 coalition that includes Michigan tribal organizations.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rather than a solution to spill concerns, McBrearty said, the tunnel project is \u201ca massive industrial intrusion into the Great Lakes, designed to keep oil flowing for decades longer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Frustrated with a review process they described as rushed and flawed, seven Michigan tribes <a href=\"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/michigan-environment-watch\/seven-tribes-michigan-withdraw-federal-talks-over-line-5-tunnel-permit\/\">withdrew<\/a> from treaty talks with federal officials in March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis is just the latest chapter in a long story of the federal government disregarding the rights of tribal nations to favor corporations,\u201d said Bay Mills Indian Community President Whitney Gravelle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She added that the tribe will \u201cabsolutely be litigating\u201d if the Corps grants tunnel permits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fox, the Corps spokesperson, declined to answer questions from Bridge Michigan, including why tribal treaty rights were omitted from the review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An Enbridge spokesperson on Friday said the Corps had taken a \u201ccareful and methodical approach\u201d with its review.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe look forward to the completion of this process, a permit decision from the USACE, and the opportunity to advance this critical infrastructure project,\u201d company spokesperson Ryan Duffy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to the tunnel proposal, the Corps studied a range of alternatives. Among them is scrapping the tunnel and instead pursuing horizontal directional drilling, an option that the Corps <a href=\"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/michigan-environment-watch\/feds-eye-new-option-for-michigan-line-5-no-concrete-tunnel-horizontal-drilling\/\">abruptly placed on the table in November<\/a>, years into its review of the tunnel project.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Business and labor groups aligned with Enbridge \u2014 from the Michigan Chamber of Commerce to the Michigan Laborers District Council \u2014 hailed the tunnel project as a good thing for business and the environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEnergy affordability matters to Michigan manufacturers,\u201d said Mike Witkowski, environmental and regulatory policy director for the Michigan Manufacturers Association. \u201cWe\u2019re confident (the) Corps will do the right thing and greenlight this critical energy infrastructure project.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While obtaining the federal permit would mark a milestone in Enbridge\u2019s efforts to build the tunnel, the company is awaiting water resources permits from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy. Meanwhile, the Michigan Supreme Court has <a href=\"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/michigan-environment-watch\/michigan-supreme-court-to-consider-line-5-permit-challenges\/\">taken up<\/a> a lawsuit challenging the legality of a tunnel permit issued by the Michigan Public Service Commission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Separately, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and state Attorney General Dana Nessel have been pushing for years to shut the existing pipeline down \u2014 an effort that suffered a setback in December when a federal judge <a href=\"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/michigan-environment-watch\/federal-judge-michigan-has-no-authority-to-shut-down-line-5\/\">ruled<\/a> that federal pipeline safety law leaves no room for the state to regulate the pipeline. The state has appealed the ruling to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s unclear how or whether that ruling will affect a separate state court lawsuit that Nessel is pursuing in hopes of securing a shutdown. That case is paused in Ingham County Circuit Court while the US Supreme Court <a href=\"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/michigan-environment-watch\/us-supreme-court-hear-line-5-pipeline-dispute-between-michigan-enbridge\/\">prepares<\/a> to decide which court&nbsp; \u2014 federal or state \u2014 has jurisdiction over the lawsuit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Originally advertised as a $500 million project that might finish by 2024, construction on the tunnel is now likely to run into 2030 and cost billions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The US Army Corps released an environmental review Friday that is the last step toward issuing key permits for the Line 5 tunnel.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1001,"featured_media":72408,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"2026-02-06T16:35:49Z","apple_news_api_id":"a2bc2ae1-ca4a-418e-b8aa-f71d8a4a9116","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2026-02-06T21:41:45Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABg==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Aorwq4cpKQY64qvcdikqRFg","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_newspack_byline_active":false,"_newspack_byline":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[2444],"tags":[723,936,26],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[2470],"class_list":["post-72409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-michigan-environment-watch","tag-enbridge","tag-great-lakes","tag-great-lakes-news-collaborative","entry"],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - 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