TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. -- A plan to build an oil pipeline tunnel beneath a channel linking Lakes Huron and Michigan has won final approval.
One week after it was established, a Michigan panel approved an agreement between outgoing Republican Gov. Rick Snyder's administration and the Canadian pipeline company Enbridge. It calls for drilling the 4-mile (6.4 kilometre) tunnel through bedrock under the Straits of Mackinac.
The new pipeline segment will replace twin pipes along the lake bed. They are part of Enbridge's Line 5. The pipeline carries oil and natural gas liquids between Superior, Wisconsin, and Sarnia, Ontario.
The unanimous approval from the three-member Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority accomplishes Snyder's goal of sealing the deal before leaving office this month. His successor, Democrat Gretchen Whitmer, has criticized the tunnel plan.
