Brown
How can we have the energy we need for daily life, while at the same time protecting the environment?
That was the question posed when Enbridge selected world-renowned engineering company Bechtel Corporation to construct Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac to alleviate risks from barges transporting oil across the Great Lakes.
Meeting extraordinary design and construction standards, Line 5 was an engineering marvel of its time and designed specifically to operate safely within the geological formation of the Straits.
Michigan and the region continue to receive safely from Line 5 the energy on which they rely, while Enbridge employs a suite of environmental safeguards in the Straits. Line 5 safely transports crude oil and natural gas liquids that manufacturers — as well as refineries in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Sarnia, Canada — use to generate fuel, propane and more than 6,000 products — food, clothing, phones and computers — that support our region’s daily living.
As it did in constructing Line 5, Enbridge will incorporate technological and construction advances in bringing the Great Lakes Tunnel to the region. Favored by the majority of Michiganders, the Great Lakes Tunnel is the next logical step to strengthening the region’s energy security while protecting our treasured waterways; there are no other viable alternatives.
After approximately four years of review and public input, the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) reached its Dec. 1, 2023, decision authorizing Enbridge to locate a replacement section of Line 5 in the planned Great Lakes Tunnel.
Leveraging Enbridge’s depth of expertise and lessons learned from operating the largest pipeline network in North America, construction of the concrete tunnel will eliminate the chance of a pipeline release in the Straits while enabling the region to receive essential heat and fuel.
With the MPSC decision, Enbridge has received all state-required permits and is awaiting the final federal permitting decision from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers before it can begin construction on the tunnel.
When Line 5 was built in the Straits, it answered the questions on protecting the environment and delivering energy.
Now is the time to build the Great Lakes Tunnel Project — the next modernization project to serve the region.
