Michigan regulator staff recommends go-ahead for Enbridge Line 5 tunnel
Jun. 16, 2023 4:14 PM ETEnbridge Inc. (ENB), ENB:CABy: Carl Surran, SA News Editor34 Comments
Michigan regulator staff recommends go-ahead for Enbridge Line 5 tunnel
Jun. 16, 2023 4:14 PM ETEnbridge Inc. (ENB), ENB:CABy: Carl Surran, SA News Editor34 Comments
Staff at the Michigan Public Service Commission has recommended the regulator approve Enbridge's (NYSE:ENB) proposed tunnel project that would replace a section of the Line 5 oil pipeline beneath the Straits of Mackinac, Argus Media reported Friday.
The proposed tunnel would "fulfill the alleged purpose of reducing the environmental risk to the Great Lakes posed by the dual pipelines," the staff report said, according to Argus.
The 645-mile pipeline moves crude oil and natural gas liquids from Superior, Wisconsin, to Sarnia, Ontario, with most of the pipeline located in Michigan; it crosses beneath the Straits of Mackinac between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, where Enbridge (ENB) has applied to replace two existing 20-inch pipelines with a tunnel containing one single 30-inch pipe.
"The dual pipelines are exposed to forces that the replacement segment in the tunnel would not be," such as anchor hooking, vibrations from currents and erosion of the seabed, MPSC staff said in its report.
An "extraordinary chain of events" would be needed for product to be released from the pipeline into the Straits of Mackinac, according to the staff report.
Even if approved by the state, a key environmental review by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers likely would delay construction of the project until 2026, Argus said.
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