U.S. Army engineers fast-track Great Lakes tunnel permits under Trump emergency order

Todd Richmond · The Associated Press

· Posted: Apr 16, 2025 1:45 PM EDT | Last Updated: 5 minutes ago

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has decided to fast-track permits for gathering a protective passageway astir an aging Enbridge lipid pipeline that runs beneath a transmission connecting 2 Great Lakes, stoking environmentalists' fears that the task volition flight scrutiny, harm the delicate portion and perpetuate fossil substance use.

The determination comes aft President Donald Trump issued an enforcement bid successful January declaring that the U.S. has go excessively babelike connected overseas vigor sources. The bid mandates that national agencies place vigor infrastructure projects for expedited exigency permitting from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency.

The corps designated the passageway task connected Line 5 arsenic an exigency nether the bid precocious Tuesday. The corps had initially planned to marque a permitting determination aboriginal adjacent year. Corps officials were vague during a league telephone with reporters Wednesday greeting astir however rapidly the process whitethorn determination forward.

'Truncated' timeline

The Detroit District's regulatory chief, Shane McCoy, said that the timeline volition beryllium "truncated" but didn't elaborate beyond saying nary steps would beryllium skipped and the process volition effect successful "a precise legally defensible, precise well-informed decision."

Multiple groups lined up to knock the fast-track determination Wednesday, including the Sierra Club, biology instrumentality steadfast Earthjustice and the Great Lakes Business Network, a conjugation of businesses that works to support the Great Lakes with sustainable concern practices.

"The lone vigor `emergency' the American radical look is Trump's efforts to disregard cleanable aerial and h2o safeguards successful bid to unreserved done dirty, unsafe fossil substance projects," said Mahyar Sorour, manager of the Sierra Club's Beyond Fossil Fuels Policy.

Enbridge spokesperson Ryan Duffy said successful a connection Wednesday that Line 5 is "critical vigor infrastructure" and the passageway task is designed to "make a harmless pipeline safer." He noted that Enbridge archetypal began applying for permits 5 years ago.

The pipeline runs done bluish Wisconsin into Michigan's precocious and little peninsulas earlier terminating successful Sarnia, Ontario, successful Canada. Enbridge has utilized the pipeline since 1953 to transport crude lipid and earthy state liquids betwixt Superior, Wisconsin, and Sarnia.

It presently moves astir 3.7 cardinal litres a day, according to Enbridge.

Enbridge wants to physique a protective passageway astir a 5.8-kilometer) conception that runs on the bottommost of the Straits of Mackinac, which nexus Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.

Potential spill concerns remain

Company officials support the aging pipeline is structurally sound. But concerns astir a perchance catastrophic spill successful the straits that could contaminate Lake Michigan and Lake

Huron person been mounting since 2017, erstwhile Enbridge officials revealed engineers had known astir gaps successful the pipeline's coating successful the straits for 3 years. Fears of a spill escalated successful 2018 aft a vessel anchor damaged the line. The institution reached an statement successful 2018 with then-Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder's medication to encase the enactment successful a protective tunnel.

Environmental groups, tribal nations and Democrats person spent the past 5 years filing lawsuits to region the enactment from the straits. A Michigan appellate tribunal ruled successful February that authorities permits for the passageway were decently issued. Separate lawsuits from

Attorney General Dana Nessel and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer seeking to void the easement that allows the pipeline to tally beneath the straits are inactive pending successful authorities and national court.

The lawsuits notwithstanding, Enbridge needs lone support from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy earlier it tin statesman passageway construction.

Enbridge is embroiled successful a abstracted ineligible conflict implicit Line 5 successful Wisconsin. About 19 kilometers of the enactment runs crossed the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa's reservation. The people sued successful 2019 to unit Enbridge to region the enactment from the reservation, arguing it's prone to a spill and easements allowing the institution to run connected the preservation expired successful 2013. A national justice successful 2023 gave the institution 3 years to get the pipeline disconnected the reservation.

Enbridge has projected a 66-kilometre reroute astir the reservation. The people has filed a suit seeking to void authorities operation permits for the task and joined respective different groups successful challenging the permits done the authorities Department of Natural Resources' contested lawsuit process.