Opinion | Line 5 Tunnel: A win for Michigan’s energy, economy and environment

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nessel have an opportunity to help Michiganders while protecting the Great Lakes after the US Army Corps of Engineers’ recent decision to expedite the federal permitting process for the Line 5 Tunnel. Michigan leaders should take this chance to abandon their losing campaign against the pipeline and allow operators to secure this vital resource.

Motivated by a presidential executive order that “declared a national energy emergency” and bolstered by a joint letter from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy and the Institute for Energy Research, the Army Corps announced April 16 that it will accelerate its environmental impact review for a project to improve the pipeline. The Corps cited “special emergency permitting procedures” in a decision that bodes well for Michigan's energy security and environmental protection.

For more than 70 years, Line 5 has played a critical role in Michigan’s energy supply, daily transporting 540,000 barrels of light crude oil and natural gas liquids from Wisconsin to refineries in Michigan, Ohio, and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Our organizations have long supported a project that would safely relocate this pipeline to a concrete-lined tunnel 100 feet below the bed of the Great Lakes. We penned a joint letter in February encouraging Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to expedite the federal environmental impact statement that is required for the tunnel project to proceed.

Unfortunately, Whitmer and Nessel have consistently opposed the pipeline, and their actions have helped stall efforts to retain a significant piece of the state’s energy infrastructure and protect the waters of the Great Lakes. They have sided with a collection of environmental special interests in an ongoing, though so far unsuccessful, campaign to close Line 5 completely. The governor has maligned the pipeline as a “ticking time bomb,” claiming that the pipeline represents an existential threat to the Great Lakes.

Shutting down this pipeline would threaten energy markets, spike prices, and jeopardize livelihoods. Line 5 supplies 55% of Michigan’s propane, which heats and fuels more than 223,000 households statewide. The fuels transported by the pipeline contribute more than $20 billion annually to the economy and sustain more than 33,000 jobs across the Midwest. Enbridge's tunnel project, a $750 million private investment, offers an innovative (and widely supported) solution that would effectively eliminate the risk of a spill in the Great Lakes while preserving this vital energy artery.

There is broad agreement that Enbridge’s investment will create thousands of jobs and reinforce Michigan’s role as an energy leader. In a December 2023 ruling, Whitmer’s hand-picked Michigan Public Service Commission agreed that the pipeline is essential to the state’s economy. “The Commission’s order determined there is a public need for the replacement section of Line 5 and the products it carries,” explained MPSC spokesperson Matt Helms in an agency news release.

The Whitmer administration has not commented on the Army Corps’ decision, and the federal approval process is outside state control. But the governor’s efforts against Line 5 have paradoxically increased the danger to the Great Lakes.

Federal officials recognize that the project has been delayed for too long. The initial draft Environmental Impact Statement (expanded from an environmental assessment by the US Army Corps of Engineers in 2021) was expected to be completed in the spring of 2025. By accelerating the review, the Corps is helping to address an already missed deadline.

The tunnel project would address environmental concerns about Line 5. The existing pipeline rests on the lakebed. While it has operated safely for decades and has passed recent safety tests, there are risks associated with water currents and previous anchor strikes. A completed tunnel would mitigate those risks by enclosing the pipeline in a concrete tunnel bored into the bedrock below the lakebed.

The Army Corps’ expedited permitting process is not a shortcut. Instead, it’s a move to restore lost time, speed up an already extended permitting process, and improve environmental standards. The expedited process will still ensure additional opportunities for public input (as required by law) while avoiding “inexplicably lethargic” delays.

Michigan stands at a crossroads. The Line 5 Tunnel project offers a path forward that secures energy supplies, protects the Great Lakes and drives economic growth. The decision to fast-track the review is a victory for commonsense policy and a testament to the power of principled advocacy. Let’s seize this opportunity to build a stronger, safer, and more prosperous Midwest.