A coalition of environmental and business groups said Michigan taxpayers could end up paying billions for the Line 5 tunnel, the four-mile underground passage Enbridge wants to build to contain its aging pipeline beneath the Straits of Mackinac.
A new report from Oil and Water Don't Mix and Clean Water Action claims the project, long promoted as a safer alternative than the existing dual pipes on the lake bed, could shift billions of dollars in financial risk onto the state.
Sean McBrearty, campaign coordinator for the conservation group Oil and Water Don't Mix, political director for Clean Water Action and the report's co-author, said the agreement pushed through at the end of the Snyder administration means Enbridge builds the tunnel but Michigan will own it.
"That means that Michigan taxpayers could be responsible for the catastrophic cleanup, water system repairs, tourism losses, public health emergencies and multibillion-dollar infrastructure disruptions, if something goes wrong," McBrearty contended.
Enbridge disputed the report in response, saying Michigan is "fully indemnified" under its agreements, meaning the state will be compensated for its losses, and taxpayers would not pay for any incident. The company argued it has the financial strength and certified assurances to cover all cleanup costs and noted state regulators have already approved the project.
Opponents said the tunnel comes with engineering risks which have not been fully explained to the public.
Skip Pruss, former director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, said an Army Corps of Engineers review found the project could draw in around 21,000 gallons of groundwater each day, a scenario he stressed sets a dangerous precedent.
"The tunnel will be constructed at a depth and will encounter 17 atmospheres of pressure," Pruss explained. "That is more pressure than any tunnel project ever constructed, or attempted to constructed, in the world."
Enbridge maintained the tunnel will make an already safe pipeline even safer and is undergoing full state and federal review.
