Advocacy News – Oct. 19, 2022
The Michigan Chamber recently submitted comments to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) supporting the legal argument for building the Great Lakes Tunnel and replacing the Line 5 oil pipeline. This is a key next step and part of the Environmental Impact Statement process.
The Chamber, which has long supported the innovative agreement originally struck by Enbridge Inc. and the State of Michigan in 2018, made two key arguments that underscore the rationale for why the permits should be granted and the project should move forward.
- First, the Chamber noted that the necessary baseline for viewing the project is the current reality that dual pipelines currently operate on the bottomlands of the Mackinac Straits. It is not an imaginary situation where no pipelines exist, as some opponents of the project have erroneously urged.
- Additionally, should the permits be denied for the replacement pipeline, the status quo would be dual pipelines continuing to exist and operate on the bottom of the lakebed, which all parties involved seem to universally agree is the worst-case scenario.
“The outcome [of permit denial] will be that ACE will have blocked construction of a tunnel for environmental reasons – but the Great Lakes will be exposed indefinitely to the greater risk of having petroleum pipelines in the waters of the United States as a direct result of decision,” Valerie Brader of Rivenoak Law wrote on behalf of the Chamber. “It is better for the environment to have a petroleum pipeline in a tunnel deep in the bedrock than it is to have two of them in the Great Lakes.”
For questions or more information, please contact Mike Alaimo at malaimo@michamber.com.