Michigan governor halts Great Lakes oil tunnel

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. – Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has ordered state departments and agencies to take no further action on legislation enacted in late 2018 authorizing construction of an oil pipeline tunnel beneath lakes Huron and Michigan.

It would house a more than 4-mile (6.4-kilometre) section of Enbridge’s Line 5, which carries oil and natural gas liquids between Superior, Wisconsin, and Sarnia, Ontario.

Whitmer made the move Thursday after Attorney General Dana Nessel issued an opinion labeling the law unconstitutional.

Whitmer and Nessel are both Democrats who were elected last year. They had opposed a deal to build the Straits of Mackinac tunnel reached by former Republican Gov. Rick Snyder and Canadian pipeline company Enbridge.

Legislation to establish a panel that would oversee the project was rushed to enactment in December.

After taking office in January, Whitmer asked Nessel to examine the law’s constitutionality.