Federal officials’ recent messages beneficial for region

U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, center, at the 2023 CERAWeek conference, where she told delegates: “The U.S. has become, in this year, an indispensable energy partner to our allies, and a global energy powerhouse.”

Nod to permit, agency coordination could help advance Tunnel

March 15, 2022

Marching bands dotting parade routes in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, March Madness and thousands anticipating Michigan’s annual maple syrup festivals ─ this time of year abounds with excitement.

For many, anticipation also is on the horizon for construction of the Great Lakes Tunnel project in the Straits of Mackinac.

Placed deep below the lakebed of the Straits, the concrete tunnel will house a replacement section of Enbridge Line 5. The Tunnel will eliminate the chance of an anchor strike to Line 5 and essentially eliminate the chance of a release into the waterways.

“The Great Lakes Tunnel just makes sense,” said Mike Moeller, Enbridge’s operations director for the Great Lakes Region. “It will help protect the Great Lakes while allowing the region to continue to benefit from a vital, reliable, and affordable source of energy.” 

“Enbridge is committed to building the Great Lakes Tunnel and doing everything in its power to be ready to construct once permitting is complete.”

The State of Michigan granted its required environmental permits for the project in early 2021. The project is waiting on federal permitting, which still may take several additional years to complete.

Feds speak at CERAWeek: Moving projects along is a priority

John Podesta, the Biden administration’s senior advisor for energy innovation and climate, recently acknowledged that the federal government needs to do better with permitting of infrastructure projects. At CERAWeek, a conference for the nation's energy leaders, Podesta shared “…We can move faster by setting tight deadlines for agencies to complete environmental reviews. We can move smarter by making it easier to approve projects with low environmental impact, and we can move strategically by improving basic information sharing amongst agencies, and quality standards for project approvals.”

By design, the Great Lakes Tunnel project would impact less than a half-acre of wetlands. From a permitting and practical assessment, this constitutes low environmental impact ─ with the added benefit of strengthening environmental safeguards in the Straits of Mackinac.

 

“We can move faster by setting tight deadlines for agencies to complete environmental reviews. We can move smarter by making it easier to approve projects with low environmental impact.”

—John Podesta, the Biden administration's senior advisor for energy innovation and climate, at 2023 CERAWeek

While Podesta addressed permitting, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, at the same conference, extended appreciation to oil companies in recognition of their boosting output, while acknowledging that conventional oil and gas will be part of the overall energy mix well into the middle to latter part of this century.  

“The U.S. has become, in this year, an indispensable energy partner to our allies, and a global energy powerhouse,” said Granholm. The former Michigan governor and attorney general also heralded the industry’s “creative visionaries.”

Once Enbridge receives all applicable permits from federal agencies, it will begin construction of the Tunnel. The energy company said it applied for its federal permits in April 2020 and is waiting on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to conduct its environmental impact study.

“We anticipate beginning construction of the Tunnel shortly after the Corps completes its work,” said Moeller.

Moeller added that the Tunnel makes sense from many viewpoints. “First, this region will be able to continue to receive safely each day the energy from Line 5 on which it depends, knowing that our waterways also will have additional safeguards. Second, the Tunnel protects the waters and the environment of the Great Lakes, which everyone agrees upon.  And finally, building the Great Lakes Tunnel will employ local construction workers with well-paying jobs while this engineering marvel is built.”

Remarked Moeller: “Let’s get the final federal approvals and get to work. It’s very important work!”