US EditionArmy Corps Finds Great Lakes Pipeline Tunnel Would Have Sweeping Environmental Impacts
- On June 2, 2025, a draft report was issued assessing the environmental consequences of constructing a tunnel beneath the Straits of Mackinac for Enbridge's Line 5 pipeline, which links Lake Huron and Lake Michigan.
- The tunnel proposal, initiated in 2018 after an anchor damaged the aging Line 5 pipeline, aims to replace its straits section with a protected underground segment to reduce spill risks, but faces ongoing legal opposition.
- Construction would span six years with nearly 200 truck trips daily, causing long-term loss of wetlands, vegetation, and nearly 300 trees that serve as roosts for northern long-eared and tricolored bats, plus potential soil contamination and road degradation.
- Enbridge emphasized their intention to minimize environmental impact, while the Sierra Club described the tunnel as a dire threat to the Great Lakes, underscoring deep disagreements over the risks of spills and effects on the ecosystem.
- The draft analysis advances the Corps toward approving the $500 million tunnel, with a final environmental assessment and permit decision expected by autumn 2025 amid continued legal challenges from tribes, environmentalists, and state officials seeking pipeline removal.
58 Articles
58 Articles
Army Corps analysis: Great Lakes pipeline tunnel would have sweeping environmental impacts
Reading Time: 4 minutesBuilding an underground tunnel for an aging Enbridge oil pipeline that stretches across a Great Lakes channel could destroy wetlands and harm bat habitats but would eliminate the chances of a boat anchor rupturing the line and causing a catastrophic spill, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Friday in a long-awaited draft analysis of the proposed project’s environmental impacts.The analysis moves the corps a step closer …
Analysis on Line 5 project identifies short and long term risks
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Federal regulators have released a long-awaited study on the environmental impact of the Line 5 Project. On Friday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Detroit District published its initial analysis for the project that would seek to build an underground tunnel for the aging Enbridge oil pipeline that runs along the Straits of Mackinac. The federal review took over a year longer to publish than expected. Enbridge Ene…
Wisconsin State Journal
Army Corps finds Great Lakes pipeline tunnel would have sweeping environmental impacts
The analysis moves the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers a step closer to approving the tunnel for Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac.
Army Corps of Engineers greenlights public comment period on Line 5 tunnel
Enbridge Energy’s controversial Line 5 tunnel project will move forward to a 30-day public comment period after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Friday released a draft environmental impact statement, which did not clear the project of all and…
Federal agency finds Great Lakes tunnel project poses 'detrimental' effects to water, wetlands
Enbridge's proposed Line 5 tunnel project would harm water and wetlands. But a draft environmental review released Friday by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers found most environmental effects would be short-lived. The post Federal agency finds Great Lakes tunnel project poses ‘detrimental’ effects to water, wetlands appeared first on WPR.
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