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The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Wednesday approved energy company Enbridge’s plan to impound a section of an old oil pipeline that passes beneath great Lakes The channel, putting forward its own findings that construction could ruin the environmentally sensitive area.
The Corps initially planned to issue a permitting decision early next year. After this, the agency worked rapidly on this project in April. chairman donald trump Ordered federal agencies to identify energy projects for expedited emergency permitting.
“The approval of the Enbridge Line 5 reroute application is a major success and will advance the President’s energy dominance agenda for America,” Adam Telle, assistant secretary of the Army for civil operations, said in a statement.
The Corps released an environmental analysis in May that concluded tunneling would protect the pipeline but that the work could destroy wetlands and archeological sites, harm bat habitats, disturb aquatic life, disrupt views of the lake and potentially trigger underwater explosions.
The Corps nevertheless issued Enbridge a permit, saying Wednesday that the application complied with all applicable federal laws and regulations.
Calgary, Alberta-based Enbridge did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
Enbridge now only needs permits from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and energy More than $500 million project to begin. Environmentalists are pressuring the state to reject the application.
Enbridge has been using the Line 5 pipeline to transport crude oil and natural gas liquids between Superior, Wisconsin and Sarnia, Ontario since 1953. About 4 miles (6 kilometers) of the pipeline passes beneath the Strait of Mackinac, a channel connecting Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.
Concerns about the section’s cracking and catastrophic spillage have been growing since 2017, when Enbridge officials revealed that engineers had known about gaps in the section’s coating for three years. In 2018 a boat anchor damaged the line, further increasing fears.
Enbridge officials say the segment is structurally sound. Still, they reached an agreement with the administration of then-Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder in 2018, calling for the company to build a protective tunnel around the section.
Conservationists and several Native American tribes have opposed the proposal, calling it too risky and calling on Enbridge to shut down the pipeline. The project has been embroiled in several lawsuits.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, filed a lawsuit in 2019 seeking to revoke the easement that allows Enbridge to operate the pipeline in the strait. The US Supreme Court is currently considering whether to adjudicate the case in federal or state court.
Governor Gretchen Whitmera Democrat, ordered its regulators in 2020 to revoke the easement allowing the segment to operate across the strait. Enbridge filed a federal lawsuit the same year seeking to invalidate the order. Trump has also inserted himself into that controversy. Her administration filed briefs in September arguing that Whitmer interfered in U.S. foreign policy when she revoked the easements.
The Michigan Public Service Commission issued the permits in 2023, leading to another lawsuit filed on behalf of environmental groups and tribes. A Michigan appeals court upheld the permit last February.
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AP reporter Steve Karnowski contributed to this story.