The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is fast-tracking review for a Canadian energy firm’s plan to build a $750 million tunnel for its oil and gas pipeline on the bottom of the Great Lakes.
The decision comes after President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national energy emergency. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a notice Tuesday that the project will be subject to emergency permitting procedures in line with the order, shortening the timeline for review.
The project would replace a roughly 4-mile stretch of Enbridge’s pipeline that’s vulnerable to rupturing in the Straits of Mackinac. Line 5 runs 645 miles and carries up to 23 million gallons of oil and natural gas liquids daily from Superior to Sarnia, Ontario.
The project has been under review for five years, and the agency previously said it would issue a draft environmental review this year and a final decision in 2026. Under emergency permitting procedures, Corps Detroit district office regulatory chief Shane McCoy said it’s still working with Enbridge to determine new timelines, but he expects a draft environmental impact statement will be issued around June.
“All of the review is still being used in the analysis. It’s under the emergency orders. However, the timelines associated with our coordination and conducting those reviews are truncated,” McCoy said.
The Corps received more than 17,000 public comments during its initial review. The emergency procedures fast-track the process under the National Historic Preservation Act and other federal regulations.
Katie Otanez, Detroit district office regulatory project manager, said it’s still evaluating requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act under the emergency process when asked whether public hearings may be eliminated.
The emergency procedures allow 15 days for public input once the agency’s draft is released. The Army Corps could issue a decision 30 days after a final environmental impact statement is issued, but it’s unclear when that may be. The agency said the process will result in a “legally defensible and well-informed” decision on the project.