Democrats legal challenge halts work on Mackinac Straits oil, gas pipeline
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Thursday issued an executive directive ordering all state departments to stop any activity related to an oil pipeline replacement project in the Great Lakes bed.
The move followed an opinion issued by Attorney General Dana Nessel that challenged the constitutionality of a GOP-supported law that created an authority to oversee the project, called Line 5. It was one of the more controversial bills that Michigan Republicans rammed through during December's lame duck session.
The law created a Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority to work with Canadian oil giant Enbridge to build a $500 million, 4-mile-long tunnel 100 feet beneath the straits' bed. The tunnel will replace dual gas and oil pipelines originally installed in 1953 that run along the bottom of the straits.
The law was approved in December and the authority approved a new pipeline agreement before the Jan. 1 inaugurations of Whitmer and Nessel. The opinion and Whitmer's order sets up a legal battle between the GOP-controlled Legislature and Nessel's office.
Read more: https://www.metrotimes.com/news-hits/archives/2019/03/29/dems-legal-challenge-halts-work-on-mackinac-straits-oil-gas-pipeline
