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Michigan panel wants details on Great Lakes oil tunnel plan

Lester Graham
/
Michigan Radio

A Michigan regulatory panel wants more information on Enbridge Energy’s plan to drill an oil pipeline tunnel beneath a channel linking two of the Great Lakes.

The state Public Service Commission delayed a decision Thursday on the Canadian company's request for a permit to run a section of its Line 5 through the proposed tunnel.

The commission says it doesn't have enough details on tunnel engineering and safety risks.

The 69-year-old pipeline carries oil through northern Michigan and Wisconsin to refineries in Sarnia, Ontario. One section crosses the bottom of the Straits of Mackinac between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan.