Enbridge Line 5 review delayed to 2025: Army Corps

A key environmental review for Enbridge's 540,000 b/d Line 5 crude and natural gas liquids pipeline in Michigan is being pushed to spring 2025 following public consultation, delaying replacement of a hotly contested segment.

The US Army Corps of Engineers draft environmental impact statement (EIS) on a proposed underwater tunnel for the line by Enbridge was to be published later this year, but the engineering agency extended its review after receiving more than 17,000 public comments during a scoping period that ended in October 2022.

This effectively delays construction of Enbridge's Great Lakes Tunnel Project to 2026, according to the Calgary-based midstream company, which owns the 645-mile line extending from Superior, Wisconsin, to Sarnia, Ontario.

Enbridge's proposal includes a tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, and the replacement of two existing 20-inch pipelines by one 30-inch pipeline that would carry both light crude and NGLs. The project is about four miles in length.

Another 60-day comment period would follow the draft EIS with a final EIS expected in the summer or fall of 2025. A record of decision on Enbridge's application is not expected until early 2026, according to the new timeline, six years after Enbridge first filed it in 2020.

"We are disappointed with the extended timeline for a project of this scope," said Enbridge.

Requesting the US Army Corps review the entire Line 5 pipeline, proposed and existing, was among the feedback received during the public comment period, with some questioning the need for the line in the long run. Another submission says the pipeline ensures energy requirements downstream are met and that protecting the environment and economy can be done simultaneously.

Michigan claims this is an environmentally sensitive area and vulnerable to leaks and wants the pipeline shut. The Canadian and US governments have moved to thwart Michigan's attempt to close Line 5 given the potential ramifications for refineries and LPG customers on both sides of the border. Canada invoked a 1977 treaty in October 2021 that forced US president Joe Biden to wade into the debate. Biden in November 2021 said his administration was not considering a shutdown of the line.

Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer has pursued a shut down of the line since 2019.

By Brett Holmes