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David Nicholas: The future of a tunnel project for the Line 5 pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac has been a years-long cycle of litigation and environmental controversy. Most recently, both a state and federal permit were approved to encase the pipeline in a concrete tunnel, and the state Supreme Court also weighed in on another permit.
It's a lot to try to keep track of, and that's why I called Bridge Michigan's environmental reporter Kelly House to break down where things stand with the future of the Line 5 pipeline.
Kelly House: Most of the petroleum products transported on Line 5 both come from Canada and wind up in Canada after they cross Michigan. And the Canadian government has invoked this treaty that it has with the United States that essentially tries to guarantee that no international pipelines could be shut off.
Where things stand for the fate of the tunnel itself? It's as unclear as ever. You know, there have been these flurry of recent permitting decisions, but they've been conflicting. On the one hand, the federal government granted this crucial permit that's been sort of in process for years. So that was a huge win for tunnel supporters.
But on the other hand, just days earlier, the Michigan Supreme Court invalidated a permit that is also needed for the tunnel that the state had issued. And they said the state of Michigan didn't conduct its review of the permit application appropriately. So the court wasn't saying "yes" or "no," "you have to grant this permit" or "you have to reject this permit," but they said "you have to go back to the drawing board and do a more thorough review to reach a decision."
So that could take months or even years, and it is very likely that the permit that the federal government just granted will be challenged. I know that Line 5 opponents had vowed to challenge another permit that the state issued. So, all of that is to say that nothing is settled yet.
DN: Yet under the straits there continues to run this 60 plus year old pipeline. Have there been any signs, any indications at all that we're approaching greater risk or is there some interim sort of construction that may be done? I don't know if that would appease both sides or what.
KH: I don't think that would appease both sides because there are folks who want to see this pipeline shut down full stop. It doesn't matter what measures are put in place to reduce the risk of a spill. They see the fossil fuel use itself as this threat that needs to be addressed.
But to your question about whether measures have been taken or sort of what the safety status of that pipeline is, it's older than ever. It's 73 years old now, so that certainly adds to the risk. But it's being maintained, perhaps in a way that it wasn't being maintained before public consciousness really emerged about this, that this thing even existed in the Great Lakes.
So, Enbridge has a special operations center where it's monitoring ship traffic and doing lots of things to try to prevent anchor strikes and other sort of emergencies and threats like we've seen to this pipeline in the past.
DN: What bearing, if any, do you think the election might have on this whole story?
KH: It could be huge. You know, right now we are in a reality where the governor and the Attorney General have both called for a shutdown of the current pipeline, and they're involved in lawsuits seeking that shutdown that have been sort of awaiting their final decision for years.
If you end up with an AG and/or governor who shared those views, of course, little changes in terms of the current state of affairs. If you end up with someone with a different point of view, they could drop those lawsuits and essentially the state would end its pursuit of a shutdown. And the Republican candidates for both Governor, John James, and Attorney General, Doug Lloyd, have vowed that they would end the state's pursuit of a shutdown.
So yeah, the outcome could definitely shape the future of this debate pretty significantly.
DN: Where things stand in Michigan's Line 5 saga, the latest article by environmental reporter Kelly House. Thanks very much for your continued reporting on this.
KH: Thank you for having me on.
DN: Kelly House is an environmental reporter with Bridge Michigan and I spoke with her yesterday (Wednesday, August 27).
