A standoff over operation of the Line 5 pipeline that carries crude oil and natural gas liquids through the Straits of Mackinac in Michigan has gotten more tense as the state threatens to seize profits from operator Enbridge Inc. after it failed to shut the pipeline on May 12.
Canada's federal government has entered the dispute and wants to keep the pipeline open and Enbridge is moving forward with preconstruction work on the pipeline's replacement tunnel after receiving its first permits. The Michigan Dept. of Environment Great Lakes and Energy approved Enbridge’s application for the first permits for tunnel preconstruction work in January. Arup is attached to the project as its design engineer and Jay Dee Contractors Inc., Livonia, Mich. and the U.S. unit of Japan's Obayashi Corp. were named in March 2020 to build the tunnel through a joint venture called Great Lakes Tunnel Constructors.