State halts work on Great Lakes pipeline tunnel

Photo: Enbridge Line 5 is an oil and natural gas pipeline that crosses under the St. Clair River from Michigan to Sarnia. The pipeline’s future is being debated in Michigan where the governor has promised to shut it down. FILE PHOTO / /THE OBSERVER

Enbridge says it is “surprised and disappointed” by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s order this week for state agencies to stop work on a project to build a tunnel beneath the Straits of Mackinac for the company’s Line 5 pipeline.

The order by the new governor, who called during the election campaign for the shutting down of the oil and natural gas liquids pipeline that travels to Sarnia, came after state Attorney General Dana Nessel issued a ruling calling the state law clearing the way for the tunnel unconstitutional.

That law was passed by the state legislature in the final days before the new administration took office, clearing the way for a $500-million project by Enbridge that included building a concrete-lined tunnel for a section of the 1950s-era pipeline where it crosses the straits in the Great Lakes.

“Enbridge worked in good faith with the Michigan government on the tunnel project,” Bob Rooney, Enbridge’s chief legal officer, said in a news release. […]

Full article: State halts work on Great Lakes pipeline tunnel

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