The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will fast-track permits for building a protective tunnel around an aging Enbridge oil pipeline that runs beneath a channel connecting two Great Lakes.

The move comes after President Donald Trump issued an executive order in January declaring that the U.S. has become too dependent on foreign energy sources. The order mandates that federal agencies identify energy infrastructure projects for expedited emergency permitting from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency.

The corps designated the tunnel project on Line 5 as an emergency under the order late Tuesday. The corps had initially planned to make a permitting decision early next year. Corps officials were vague during a conference call with reporters Wednesday morning about how quickly the process may move forward.

  • @ITeeTechMonkey@lemmy.worldEnglish
    20•3 days ago

    I am dumbfounded by this decision. Apparently we didnt learn our lesson when Lake Erie was so polluted it CAUGHT ON FIRE!

    I grew up in the Great Lakes region and they are truly marvels. You can stand on the edge of the lake and look out and the lake meets the horizon like looking out from the edge of an ocean!

    The Great Lakes give the US and Canada a level of water security that alomst no other countries have. This is crucial as climate change continues to disrupt weather patterns throughout the world.

    And we want to fuck it up for oil?! The god damn pil companies get so much subsides from the federal government already just build the pipe elsewhere that doesnt put our largest and possibly most important source of fresh water in danger!