Deal With Michigan Calls for Changes to Pipeline Enbridge Energy signed an agreement with the State of Michigan Wednesday which calls for changes to the Line 5 petroleum pipeline, including the elimination of the segment crossing the Straits of Mackinac, and the construction of a utility tunnel beneath the Straits through which the pipeline will travel.
The office of Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said "All costs for the tunnel will be paid by Enbridge."
Under the agreement, Enbridge would pay for all design, construction, operation and maintenance of the tunnel for up to 99 years, subject to approvals by the Mackinac Bridge Authority, the governor's office said.
Tunnel construction is estimated to cost between $350 million to $500 million and will take seven to ten years.
"This common-sense solution offers the greatest possible safeguards to Michigan's waters while maintaining critical connections to ensure Michigan residents have the energy resources they need," said Gov. Snyder. "The historic agreement will result in eliminating nearly every risk of an oil leak in the Straits and provide added protections to the Great Lakes. It also will allow for multiple utilities to be housed and protected, better connecting our peninsulas, improving energy security and supporting economic development. The taxpayers of Michigan will benefit greatly from this project but won't have to pay for it."
The project will see a "major infrastructure initiative for northern Michigan, which would be owned by the Mackinac Bridge Authority and in which Enbridge would lease space, also could house additional infrastructure, such as broadband and electrical lines," the governor's office said.
Line 5 is a light oil and natural gas pipeline.
"Line 5 has operated safely and reliably for more than six decades at the Straits, and this agreement makes a safe pipeline even safer," said Brad Shamla, Enbridge's Vice President of U.S. Liquids Pipelines operations.