Enbridge’s Lake Pipeline Tunnel Faces Long Environmental Review

摘要

Enbridge Inc.’s embattled plan to build a tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac for its Line 5 oil pipeline will need a more thorough review from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the latestsetback for the project opposed by Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.The Army Corps said Wednesday that the project will require an environmental impact statement, which is lengthier than a simple environmental assessment. The EIS is appropriatebecause it could “significantly” affect the quality of the “human environment,” Jaime Pinkham, acting assistant secretary for the Army for Civil Works, said on the agency’s website.The requirement is a victory for environmentalists and indigenous groups that now will gain more time to oppose Line 5. The Canadian pipeline giant is facing mounting opposition andhurdles for its two key projects to upgrade conduits that haul crude from the oil sands to U.S. refineries. They are crucial for producers in Alberta that have struggled for years with ashortage of export pipelines, and have seen projects such as TC Energy Corp.’s Keystone XL get scrapped.