Four Michigan tribes asked state regulators on Thursday to overturn permits for the plan to update an aging segment of the Line 5 pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac.
Tribes said that construction on the fossil fuel pipeline would threaten their ways of life by damaging cultural and environmental resources, in their request to the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) for an administrative hearing to contest the permit.
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If granted, the hearing will allow parties to submit evidence and testimony in front of an administrative judge who makes a decision on the permit.
The move by tribes comes after the Whitmer administration this week asked the agency to review the same permits using new guidance from a Michigan Supreme Court ruling.
Whitney Gravelle, president of the Bay Mills Indian Community, said in a statement that the tunnel is a trap designed to keep Line 5 operating in the straits for generations to come.
"It is time for Michigan to right this wrong by honoring its commitments to Tribal Nations and choosing a future that protects our waters rather than locking us into future generations of risk," she said.
Enbridge Energy wants to encase a new segment of its pipeline carrying oil and natural gas liquids in a tunnel buried beneath the Straits.
In a statement, the company said it already has an agreement from 2017 with the state to build the tunnel.
LINE 5 IN CONTEXT: See IPR's and WCMU's timeline detailing the Line 5 saga.
"Without years of litigation and political intervention, this project would be moving toward completion," said spokesperson Ryan Duffy.
The company received a water resources permit for the tunnel project from EGLE on July 15. Despite acknowledging "adverse" impacts on ecological and tribal resources, state regulators said it's better than an oil spill in the Great Lakes.
Two weeks later, the Michigan Supreme Court vacated a tunnel permit issued by a different state agency — the Michigan Public Service Commission — saying that the scope of harm under consideration was too narrow and sent it back for more review. Justices told the agency to review the permit again.
The project has received federal approval, and EGLE is expected to decide on a separate wastewater discharge permit before the end of the month.
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