A Michigan regulatory panel said Thursday it needs more information on safety risks before it can rule on Enbridge Energy’s plan to extend a pipeline through a tunnel under a waterway that connects two of the Great Ones. Lakes.
The state Public Services Commission voted 3-0 to seek more details on the potential for explosions and fires with electrical equipment during the construction of the tunnel under the Mackinac Strait.
Approval by the commission would be required for Enbridge to replace two existing Line 5 pipelines in the straits, connecting Lake Huron and Lake Michigan with a new segment that would cross the proposed underground tunnel.
“This has been an extensive process,” President Dan Scripps said. “We want to make sure we do it right.”
Enbridge and the state of Michigan are embroiled in legal battles along line 5. The 69-year-old underground pipeline transports Canadian used petroleum liquids and natural gas through northern Michigan and Wisconsin to Sarnia refineries. Ont.
A 6.4-kilometer stretch is divided into double tubes that cross the bottom of the strait.
Enbridge is challenging Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s 2020 order to close the line, a measure long sought by environmental groups and Native American tribes who fear a rupture will devastate the lakes. The company says the line is in good condition and states in a federal lawsuit that the Democratic governor has no jurisdiction to close it.
Calgary-based Enbridge reached an agreement with former Republican Gov. Rick Snyder in 2018 to build the $ 500 million tunnel. Enbridge has obtained permits from the Michigan Department of the Environment, Great Lakes and Energy and is awaiting news from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as well as the Michigan Public Service Commission.
A map of the Line 5 pipeline route through the US to Ontario. (Enbridge)
The commission said last year it would not rule on whether the entire 1,038-kilometer line should continue to operate, focusing instead on the submarine section.
Its three members are appointed by Whitmer. Scripps and Tremaine Phillips are Democrats, while Katherine Peretick is independent.
In its Thursday order, the commission said witnesses, exhibits and briefings included too little about the engineering and dangers of the tunnels.
There is also a lack of information on the safety and maintenance of dual pipes, “including leak detection systems and shutdown procedures,” the order says.
Interviewed by phone after the meeting in Lansing, Michigan, Scripps said Enbridge had set the probability of an oil pipeline release from the tunnel as “one in a million.” The commission wants to know how the figure was calculated, he said, as well as the steps to eliminate even that possibility.
In a statement, Enbridge said he had already provided “extensive” material on these issues, but would answer more questions.
“Tunnel engineering and design have been developed in accordance with the tunnel agreement signed with the state and in close coordination with the Mackinac Strait Corridor Authority to ensure its safety and life useful, ”the company said.
The corridor authority was created under Snyder to oversee the construction and operation of the tunnel.
Critics of the pipeline praised the commission’s drive to learn more.
“Enbridge has not demonstrated the viability or safety of this project,” said Beth Wallace of the National Wildlife Federation. “Enbridge has shown time and time again that they cannot be trusted to operate line 5 and that they should not be trusted to blow up a tunnel across the Great Lakes.”
The commission’s decision was the last of many delays for the tunnel, which the company initially pledged to complete in 2024.
The Army Corps is conducting a lengthy environmental impact study.
Enbridge said he remains committed to the project.
The Great Lakes Michigan Jobs Coalition, which represents industry and labor groups, urged the commission to “get back to work, advance the tunnel project and protect tens of thousands of Michigan jobs.”