US Army Corps grants emergency status for Enbridge Line 5 tunnel.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers granted national energy emergency status for a tunnel proposed by Enbridge for its Line 5 oil pipeline on Wednesday, fast-tracking a key federal permitting process.
The pipeline tunnel is among the first to get an emergency designation after President Donald Trump declared a national energy emergency in a January executive order, and means the Army Corps can fast-track its review of the project.
As part of the January 20 energy declaration, aimed at expanding U.S. energy production to meet projected soaring demand, Trump ordered the Army Corps to issue permits enabling the filling of wetlands and dredging or building in waterways. The project would build a roughly 4-mile tunnel for the 645-mile Line 5 that crosses through the Straits of Mackinac in the Great Lakes. The pipeline carries over 20 million gallons of oil and natural gas liquids daily from Superior, Wisconsin to Sarnia, Ontario.
Blue Community co-founder Maude Barlow commented:
This is a travesty and a danger to the Great Lakes!
