enbridge

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer says she's open to renew talks with Enbridge Energy about the future of its oil pipeline through the Mackinac Straits.

Last week, Enbridge – which is a Michigan Radio sponsor – asked the state Court of Claims to consider the legality of agreements it reached with former Governor Rick Snyder to build an oil pipeline tunnel.

Michigan’s attorney general has until June 27 to respond to Enbridge’s lawsuit.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer says she will meet this week with Enbridge Energy executives. Her goal is come up with an agreement to remove the Line 5 gas and oil pipeline from the Great Lakes.

“I am still talking with Enbridge," Whitmer said. "My hope is that we have a date certain that the pipeline comes out of the water, and we’ve got a resolution to this in the very near future.”

A new poll finds Michiganders have mixed feelings about on oil pipeline running beneath the Mackinac Straits. 

Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline carries Canadian crude oil thru the straits on its way to Ontario.   The pipeline carries 540,000 barrels per day of light crude oil and natural gas liquids beneath the Straits of Mackinac.

Indigenous water walkers will travel from Mackinaw City to Lansing to call for a shutdown of Enbridge’s Line 5 oil pipelines.

Sarah Jo Shomin, Nancy Gallardo, and Cody Bigjohn Jr. plan to walk 311 miles over the next 17 days.

They're calling the journey "N'biish Nibimosaadaanaa", which is Anishinaabemowin for "We Walk for Water."

A new report says the State of Michigan did not thoroughly review Enbridge’s ability to cover costs in the case of a spill from its twin Line 5 oil pipelines before it signed an agreement with the company. The pipelines run underneath the Straits of Mackinac.

Governor Rick Snyder says he has no intention of interrupting the lame duck session. Protesters have been gathering in the state capitol over the last few weeks.

They’re frustrated with various bills that would do things like take away power from the Secretary of State and shape ballot initiatives that passed in November.

A new study predicts a major potential economic effect of an oil spill in the Mackinac Straits to the entire Great Lakes region.

The Line 5 oil pipeline which crosses the Mackinac Straits is operated by Enbridge Energy.  

Governor Rick Snyder announced Wednesday that his administration has reached an agreement with Enbridge Energy to replace Line 5, the 65 year old twin pipelines that run under the Straits of Mackinac connecting Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. 

The agreement calls for a new pipeline that would run through a tunnel dug below the lake bed. 

Several environmental groups are stepping up their efforts against an expected plan to build a tunnel for an oil pipeline that passes through the Mackinac Straits.

A spokesman for Governor Rick Snyder says the state is still “reviewing studies and working through all possible options” for what to do with Line 5.

But environmentalists believe the governor has already decided.

Environmental advocates are speaking out against a proposed agreement to build a tunnel over Enbridge Energy's Line 5, which runs under the straits of Mackinac. An anchor strike earlier this year highlighted concerns that a leak in that stretch of the pipeline could be a major environmental disaster.

Earlier this year, Enbridge applied for a permit to add 48 new anchor supports to its twin oil pipelines that run under the Straits of Mackinac.

Representatives from federal agencies, Enbridge, and industry and environmental groups testified on Line 5, oil spill prevention and preparedness at a Senate Commerce Committee field hearing in Traverse City on Monday.

Water Protectors are camping in Northern Michigan to call for a shutdown of Enbridge's Line 5 pipeline.

According to an independent report released Friday morning by the National Wildlife Federation, the Upper Peninsula does not need to use Enbridge’s Line 5 for its propane supply.

The Upper Peninsula currently relies on Line 5’s propane as a source of energy. But the report says Michigan can get propane via truck or rail for an estimated additional five cents per gallon.

Enbridge Energy released three final reports related to an oil pipeline running under the Straits of Mackinac called Line 5. The reports were required under a November 2017 agreement with Governor Snyder. Snyder has said that he will use these reports, and a pending risk analysis by researchers from Michigan Technological University, to make a decision about Line 5 in the fall. 

The reports address three subjects: detection of underwater leaks, preventing anchor strikes, and identifying all of the vulnerable waterways in Michigan that could be at risk from a leak.

Enbridge Energy’s Line 5 could be moved into tunnel running 100 feet beneath the bottomlands of the Straits of Mackinac. Or it could be encased in a concrete and stone. Those are two options put forward today by the company as alternatives to allow it to continue to rest on the lakebed beneath the straits.

Enbridge’s report says either option virtually eliminates the risk of an oil spill in the Great Lakes.

Enbridge Energy will release a report on their controversial Line 5 pipeline this Friday at the request of Governor Snyder.  

Enbridge is expected to recommend replacing the existing Line 5 with tunneled pipelines, much to the dismay of experts and attorneys across the state.

The 65-year-old pipeline runs beneath the Mackinac Straits. It transports natural gas liquids to refineries in the Upper Peninsula and Canada, where the gas is turned into propane.

Governor Rick Snyder wants an oil and gas pipeline that runs beneath the Straits of Mackinac to eventually be de-commissioned.

The mist-shrouded straits served as a backdrop as the governor answered questions on a variety of topics. When asked about Enbridge Energy’s Line 5, he said the environmental risks are too great for the pipeline to remain where it’s been for the past 60 years.

“I don’t think anyone feels as comfortable as you’d like to having that pipeline and potentially other items on the bottom of the straits.”

Governor Rick Snyder has signed a temporary order that bans ships from dropping anchor in the Straits of Mackinac. That’s following an incident in April when a ship dragged an anchor across the bottom of the straits, causing a mineral oil spill and damage to the Line 5 fuel pipeline.

“Maritime maps have been marked for some time with the Straits of Mackinac as an advisory to not drop your anchor, but there’s been no rule or regulation technically prohibiting it, and so this rule now prohibits that,” said Snyder Communications Director Ari Adler.

UPDATED 5/25/18 at 2:13 pm.

A new poll by Lansing-based EPIC-MRA poll found 54% of Michigan voters want the Line 5 oil pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac to be shut down.

It also found that 87% of voters said they are concerned that the 65-year-old pipeline could have oil spill in Northern Michigan, while 64% said they are "very concerned."

Enbridge Energy, which is a corporate sponsor of Michigan Radio, owns and maintains Line 5.