Fast-tracked under a January 2025 presidential executive order declaring a trumped-up “energy emergency,” the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has announced its decision to approve the Canadian company Enbridge’s pipeline tunnel through Lake Michigan at the Straits of Mackinac. The proposed tunnel would house the Enbridge Line 5 pipelines, which terminate in Sarnia, Ontario, and primarily serve eastern Canada.
The tunnel project can not move forward, however, without a permit from the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) — which the Michigan Supreme Court struck down in a 6-1 ruling.
The Army Corps approval was made possible by the Whitmer administration’s recent approval of two EGLE permits. The Corps approved the project despite its own findings (PDF) that it would result in both short- and long-term detrimental impacts, including permanent wetland and wildlife habitat losses; potential release of drilling fluids to ground and surface waters; up to six years of construction noise, lights, traffic, and vibrations; limits to recreational activities; destruction of archeological resources; and housing values and tourism.
Flow Water Advocates anticipated that the Army Corps would rubber-stamp this project, because the Corps relied on the same conveniently narrow analysis of the project that was just struck down by the Michigan Supreme Court. In our recent victory in FLOW v. MPSC and the parallel Tribal coalition case, the Court vacated the MPSC permit and ordered it to complete a comprehensive analysis of the environmental and public trust impacts, and fairly compare feasible and prudent alternatives.
