By rosebell
With the aim of fast-tracking the environmental review process, the US Army Corps of Engineers has granted national energy emergency status for Enbridge’s proposed tunnel for its Line 5 oil pipeline.
Being located in the Straits of Mackinac in Michigan, the pipeline tunnel is among the first to get an emergency designation after President Trump declared a national energy emergency in a January executive order, and means the Army Corps can fast-track its review of the project.
In order to expanding US energy production, in the January 20 energy declaration Trump ordered the Army Corps to issue permits enabling the filling of wetlands and dredging or building in waterways.
Crossing through the Straits of Mackinac in the Great Lakes,this project would involve construction of a 5.8km tunnel for the 1,038km Line 5, whereas the capacity of pipeline for carrying oil and natural gas liquids from Superior, Wisconsin to Sarnia, Ontario, is over 20 million gallons per day.
In its public notice, the Army Corps’s Detroit district said: “The emergency permit request met the terms of Trump’s executive order because it addressed an energy supply situation which would result in an unacceptable hazard to life, a significant loss of property, or an immediate, unforeseen, and significant economic hardship if not acted upon more quickly.”
Despite that construction of the US$750m tunnel to house its aging Line 5 oil pipeline in 2023 was approved by Michigan regulators, but the project still needed Army Corps permission.
Due to the concerns about the potential risk to the Great Lakes,the project has been opposed by environmentalists and Native American tribes, but it is supported by organisations such as the public policy Mackinac Center which says the tunnel virtually eliminates the risk of a spill in the Great Lakes, addressing environmental concerns while maintaining critical infrastructure.
For leading the tunnel construction, Enbridge appointed a joint venture of Barnard Construction Company and Civil and Building North America in May 2024.
