Legal Battles Continue Over Short Oil Pipeline Under Great Lakes Straits

An oil pipeline giant may be nearing the end of a seven-year quest to build a pipeline tunnel beneath the lakebed of the Straits of Mackinac.

Damage to anchor support EP-17-1 on the east leg of the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline within the Straits of Mackinac in Michigan is seen in this June 2020 photo. The Canadian Press/HO-AP, Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy

The seven-year fight to keep oil and natural gas flowing under a major Michigan waterway may be headed to the state Supreme Court.

Enbridge, a large Canadian energy pipeline company won a major legal victory last week when the Michigan Court of Appeals refused to block a permit to construct a 30-inch diameter oil pipeline beneath the lakebed in the Straits of Mackinac.