News

Actions

Comment period ends soon on plan to anchor underwater pipes

Posted

Time is running out for the public to comment on a proposal to install more screw anchor supports on twin oil pipelines beneath the Straits of Mackinac in the Great Lakes.

Enbridge Inc. has applied with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to add 22 of the structures. The comment period ends June 29.

The DEQ tells MLive.com it isn't required to have a public hearing on the plan but might if there's enough interest.

The pipelines beneath the swirling waterway where Lakes Huron and Michigan converge are part of Enbridge's Line 5, which carries about 23 million gallons of oil and liquid natural gas daily.

Enbridge says the anchors are needed to meet state requirements for supporting the 64-year-old pipes where currents have washed sediments from beneath them.