Enbridge Energy

Line 5 transports up to 22.68 million gallons of crude oil and natural gas liquids through the Straits of Mackinac each day, with one University of Michigan researcher pointing to the region as the worst place for a Great Lakes Oil Spill.

Weeks before an anticipated final permitting decision regarding the Line 5 pipeline tunnel project, federal regulators put a new option on the table. Environmentalists panned the last-minute change as a 'bait-and-switch'

The state's highest court will reconsider the Michigan Court of Appeals' decision in favor of the permit back in February.

The massive oil spill in the Kalamazoo River 15 years ago polluted the water and shoreline and left oil-coated wildlife. More than a million gallons of oil was recovered along a more than 35 mile stretch of the river.

The environmental review is a major step toward a permitting decision on the controversial proposal to build a tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac. The last day for the public to comment on it is June 30.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reviewed the environmental effects of constructing a tunnel, leaving the existing lines as they are or covering the dual lines with gravel and rock.

The clock will start on public comment at the end of May, but with half as much time — 30 days instead of 60.

The federal review of the Line 5 tunnel project will be sped up through new emergency procedures under an executive order from President Donald Trump.

The review process for the Line 5 tunnel project in the Straits of Mackinac may be fast-tracked under an emergency order from the Trump administration.

The case stems from a lawsuit filed in 2019 by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, and the intention was to void a 1953 easement that allowed Enbridge to run the dual pipelines across the bottom of the Straits of Mackinac.