WCMU aired a story last week saying a state board would not be publicly releasing their risk analysis of the proposed Line 5 tunnel.
State officials now say the full report will be made public next month.
In an Oct. 2 meeting, the Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority (MSCA) heard a series of risks associated with Enbridge's plan to construct a tunnel under the lakebed in the Straits of Mackinac.
After MSCA members said the "risk planning documents" would be kept private during the meeting, WCMU followed up to understand the reasoning behind the decision.
In an email response, a state spokesperson confirmed that only a summary would be released. He said the MSCA's counsel advised that the full risk analysis is exempt from the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). WCMU aired this information Nov. 3.
When WCMU requested an interview to learn more about the report's methods and how the MSCA plans to ensure the risk analysis is impartial, the official corrected earlier communications, saying it was "always the plan" to release the full risk analysis.
The risk analysis is currently a draft, which means the FOIA exemptions still stand, but the full document will reportedly be made available during the next MSCA meeting.
Earthjustice attorney Julie Goodwin said based on the Oct. 2 meeting, she understood the full report would remain private.
Goodwin, who represents the Bay Mills Indian Community in legal actions against Enbridge, said in a statement to WCMU, "the public has a right to know what information the MSCA has about this risky and dangerous proposal."
"We’re glad the agency has reversed course and agreed to release the risk assessment, but we are holding our applause until we can see the hard data," Goodwin said.
A overview of the MSCA's risk analysis so far
Ryan Mitchell, with the Michigan Department of Transportation, and Mike Mooney, an MSCA tunnel consultant, presented the risks and strategies in place to mitigate and prevent issues Oct. 2.
Ray Howd, an attorney with the MSCA, said "the risk planning documents are an attorney-client privilege document ... It's also a risk planning document that is exempt from disclosure under FOIA."
MSCA member Paul Novak reiterated Howd's point, adding that, "there would be some value in generating a document that is publicly available, that provides summarization."
"I think some recordation that the public can review and digest as part of this process would be helpful," Novak said.
Mitchell said the analysis was developed through a series of workshops with state officials and Enbridge's contracted consultants.
The risk assessment team included: Mitchell, Mooney, Howd, Andrew Doctoroff (MSCA Member), Dan Cooper (HT Engineering, Inc.), Donald Wotring (Delve Underground), Rick Libtak (MDOT Chief Bridge Construction Engineer) and Margaret Barondess (MDOT Environmental).
Based on the review, Mitchell said the tunnel project was made in "accordance with good risk management processes."
“We're not stating that these risks have gone away, we're stating that we've developed a response plan for these risks," Mitchell said.
MSCA member Andrew Doctoroff said the risk analysis was conducted as part of the Authority's tunnel oversight duties. He added that risk management requires "ongoing vigilance."
"This process undertook, what we consider to be, an independent assessment of all of the risks based on a lot of people's experiences and expertise," Doctoroff said. "And we obviously memorialize those risks, identified them and then as objectively and rigorously and fairly as possible, assessed them."
WCMU compiled a summary of the analysis based on the meeting in the document below. For the full presentation, watch the video of Oct. 2 MSCA above or on YouTube.
The next MSCA meeting is scheduled for Dec. 7 in Detroit. More information is available on the MDOT website.
The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is conducting its own federal environmental review of the project. The USACE confirmed the Environmental Impact Statement will be released in its entirety, first as a draft in 2025.
