Michigan Regulators Approve $500M Great Lakes Tunnel for Enbridge Oil Pipeline

The project, aimed at addressing leak concerns, still requires federal permits and faces opposition from environmental groups.

Michigan regulators have approved Enbridge Inc's application to build a tunnel under the Great Lakes to house its aging Line 5 oil pipeline, a project estimated to cost $500 million.
The approval is a major step forward for the project, which aims to address concerns that the 70-year-old pipeline could leak.
The pipeline, which transports 540,000 barrels per day from Superior, Wisconsin, to Sarnia, Ontario, has been at the center of a long-running legal dispute between Enbridge and the state of Michigan.
The project still requires federal permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and construction is not expected to start before 2026.
The decision has been criticized by some environmental groups who argue that it is not necessary to keep the pipeline running in a world transitioning away from fossil fuels.