LANSING, MI (MPRN)-- The Michigan Public Service Commission says it is putting Enbridge's permit application on hold.
The permit seeks the commission's approval to place part of the Line 5 pipeline in a tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac. The agency will first consider whether Enbridge even needs permission to do it.
Enbridge filed a permit application with the Commission, but also asked if that permit is even necessary. Enbridge says it may have been granted the authority to rebuild as part of the 1953 order granting the original pipeline.
The Commission says the permit application is on hold while it considers if Enbridge can just go ahead and build the tunnel. The Commission is also opening up that question - whether Commission permit authority is necessary - to public comment.
A number of environmental groups fiercely oppose the pipeline's existence under the Straits of Mackinac, tunnel or no tunnel.
Enbridge says it's pleased the process is going forward.
