LANSING, MI (MPRN)-- Legislation that would allow for a proposed multi-use tunnel to send oil and natural gas liquids under the Straits of Mackinac passed in the state Senate Wednesday.
The plan is controversial because it would allow the decades-old Line 5 to stay open while the tunnel is built. Possibly for a decade.
Legislation approved by the Senate calls for a commission to oversee the multi-use tunnel that would be built and used by Enbridge Energy.
Senator Wayne Schmidt says they are moving as quickly as possible. The three-member commission serving six-year terms would be chosen by Governor Rick Snyder – not incoming Democratic governor Gretchen Whitmer.
“We’re doing the tunnel now. We want to get the tunnel moving forward,” he says.
Opponents say the tunnel is not a good solution and they say Line 5 should have been shut down years ago.