LANSING, MI (MPRN)-- Governor Rick Snyder is ditching his proposal to have the Mackinac Bridge Authority oversee a plan to replace a stretch of an oil and gas pipeline under the Straits of Mackinac.
The Snyder administration struck a deal with Enbridge Energy in October to replace and bury the stretch of its controversial Line 5 pipeline in an underground tunnel. There’s some urgency among supporters to cement the deal before Governor-elect Gretchen Whitmer and Attorney General-elect Dana Nessel take office in January. That’s because the two Democrats oppose the agreement and want Line 5 shut down.
A Snyder spokesperson said in an email that lawmakers appear to favor an alternative to putting the Line 5 tunnel under control of the Mackinac Bridge Authority. Instead, the plan is to create a new authority to oversee the project.
Governor Snyder supports that decision.