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Opposition team criticizes Enbridge plans for oil tunnel

They say a clay slurry would endanger water quality.

Credit: AP

FILE - This June 2020 file photo, shot from a television screen provided by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy shows damage to anchor support EP-17-1 on the east leg of the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline within the Straits of Mackinac in Michigan. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer criticized Enbridge Inc. on Wednesday, July 22, 2020 for what she described as the company's refusal to make an airtight pledge that it would pay for any damages caused by an oil spill from its pipeline beneath a Great Lakes waterway. (Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy via AP File)

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Experts retained by opponents of a Great Lakes oil tunnel say plans for the project are badly flawed.

A coalition called Oil & Water Don't Mix asked two geologists and a hazardous waste specialist to study Enbridge's application for Michigan permits to construct the tunnel beneath the Straits of Mackinac.

Enbridge says it’s confident in its plans, which were developed with industry leading contractors. The tunnel would replace the underwater segment of Enbridge's Line 5 oil pipeline.

The experts retained by opponents tell The Associated Press that Enbridge's contractors didn't take enough core samples to understand rock conditions beneath the straits, which connect lakes Huron and Michigan. They also say a clay slurry would endanger water quality.

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