Lansing — Two state agencies issued permits Wednesday necessary for the construction of a 4-mile-long tunnel beneath the Straits of Mackinac to house a new segment of the controversial Line 5 oil pipeline.
The Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy announced Tuesday it had reissued a wetlands permit for Enbridge’s Great Lakes Tunnel Project after a roughly 16-month review; and the Department of Natural Resources, a short time later, announced it had granted a permit related to the tunnel project’s effect on rare plants and animals.
The Canadian oil pipeline company had previously secured the EGLE permit for construction, but it expired as the state and Enbridge trudged through roughly eight years of litigation over the project.
“The review concluded that the public and private need for the proposed activity outweighed other public interest criteria,” the environmental department said in a statement Wednesday.
The DNR, in a statement, said its permit requires Enbridge to make efforts to reduce impacts on rare plants and animals. The project, the agency said, would have an adverse impact on Houghton’s goldenrod and the dwarf lake iris, both of which are considered threatened at the state and federal levels, as well as several bat habitats.
The natural resources agency eventually “concluded that the impacts at this site are unlikely to prevent the overall recovery of either plant species.”
Enbridge said the permit approvals are “an important step forward for a project designed to further protect the Great Lakes while helping ensure the uninterrupted flow of energy that supports Michigan and the region.
“We are reviewing the new permit conditions issued today to assess any impacts on tunnel construction,” said Ryan Duffy, a spokesman for Enbridge.
The decision was criticized by the Oil & Water Don’t Mix coalition, which has fought the project for several years over concerns about the presence of oil moving through the Great Lakes. The group, on Tuesday, took aim at Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration in its statement.
“Gov. Whitmer has had the power to reject Enbridge’s tunnel scheme, but her administration has chosen to cozy up to Big Oil rather than put Michiganders’ needs and the health of the Great Lakes first,” said David Holtz, of Oil & Water Don’t Mix.
Whitmer’s administration previously revoked Enbridge’s easement through the Great Lakes and sought a court order to support the revocation. That effort was unsuccessful and, since then, Whitmer has been largely quiet on the issue as Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel took the lead on separate litigation seeking the pipeline’s closure.
The environmental department’s review of Enbridge’s permit application, EGLE said Tuesday, included 70,000 public comments, a public hearing and a public information session, as well as meetings with the state’s Tribal Nations, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the Michigan History Center, and the State Historic Preservation Office.
“As a condition of the permit, Enbridge will be required to submit an improved wetland mitigation plan to address wetland impacts,” the agency said. “The permit also includes new conditions designed to mitigate impacts to cultural resources in the area.”
The agency continues to review a separate permit renewal application related to water discharge during construction, EGLE said in its statement.
The permits come as litigation over the pipeline’s future continues to proceed at both the state and federal levels, with a mixed bag of decisions on a variety of procedural and more substantive issues in the case.
Enbridge also has secured approvals for the tunnel project for the project from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Michigan Public Service Commission. The MPSC permit currently is being challenged before the Michigan Supreme Court.
eleblanc@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Michigan agencies grant permits for Line 5 oil pipeline tunnel project
Reporting by Beth LeBlanc, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Beth LeBlanc, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
