During a heated public meeting full of emotional testimony, Michigan’s top energy regulator has granted Enbridge a permit to build a tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac, in an important — but not final — step in the controversial project’s approval process.

According to the commission, about four miles of Line 5′s two 20-inch pipelines will be replaced with a single 30-inch pipeline that will be placed inside a concrete-lined tunnel routed under the lake bed.

Morning 4 is a quick roundup of stories we think you should know about to start your day.

In a story published Dec. 15, 2021, about a lawsuit over a Michigan oil pipeline, The Associated Press erroneously reported that U.S. District Judge Janet Neff last month retained jurisdiction over a separate Line 5 case initiated by Enbridge Energy.

The U.S. and Canada will discuss the future of an oil pipeline that crosses part of the Great Lakes.

Enbridge Line 5 is back up and running after protestors broke into a valve site.

Indigenous people marked Monday with celebrations of their heritage, education campaigns and a push for the Biden administration to make good on its word.

Here are this morning's top stories.

Canada is getting deeply involved in a dispute over an oil pipeline in Michigan.

Michigan environmental officials said Friday that Enbridge Energy is working to remove a 15,000 ship anchor from the Straits of Mackinac lakebed.

Michigan environmental officials said Friday that Enbridge Energy is working to remove a 15,000 ship anchor from the Straits of Mackinac lakebed.

The battle over the future of the Line 5 Pipeline seems to have hit a critical pass.

Enbridge Line 5 pipeline runs under the Straits of Mackinac and the 68-year-old pipeline is at the center of a legal tug of war between Michigan, Canada and Enbridge.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is threatening to go after Enbridge's profits from a Great Lakes oil pipeline if it isn't shut down.

Over the last few years, Michigan officials have been at odds with the company Enbridge, who owns and operates Line 5 -- a major oil pipeline that runs beneath the Straits of Mackinac. AdOn Friday, March 12, the Michigan Public Service Commission introduced the state’s new Propane Security Plan. Though the closure of Line 5 appears to be a “when” issue for Michigan officials, Enbridge officials in January said they have no intention of closing the pipeline. AdOn Nov. 24, 2020, Enbridge filed a federal lawsuit against the state of Michigan, challenging the state’s attempt to revoke the 1953 easement. Enbridge officials argued that shutting down Line 5 is “improper and unlawful,” and that disrupting the oil flow would negatively impact U.S. and Canadian residents and businesses.

MACKINAC COUNTY, Mich. – There was praise and disappointment on Friday after the Michigan Department Environment, Great Lakes and Energy approved the first permits to for the controversial tunnel project around the Enbridge Line 5 gas line. The dual oil pipeline is among the largest in the region and runs directly through the Mackinac Straits carrying 23 million gallons of crude oil each day. In 2010, a separate Enbridge pipeline spilled more than 800,000 gallons of oil into Talmadge Creek and the Kalamazoo River. AdEnvironmental scientists estimate an oil spill in the Straits of Mackinac would cost almost $2 billion in cleaning costs and lost tourism revenue. This week the Canadian Consul General in Detroit telling the Canadian National Post shutting down Line 5 could harm Canadian-U.S. relations.

(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. – Michigan's environmental agency said Friday it has approved construction of an underground tunnel to house a replacement for a controversial oil pipeline in a channel linking two of the Great Lakes. AdThe project requires permits from the state Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. “We have issued permits designed to ensure that if a tunnel is constructed, it will be in strict compliance with relevant statutes and adhere to stringent protections against impacts to the Great Lakes,” Clark said. State officials emphasized the tunnel project was a separate legal matter from the dispute over the existing pipeline, which was laid in 1953. It has taken steps to prevent future anchor strikes and says the tunnel project would eliminate that danger.

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. – Enbridge said Tuesday it would defy Michigan's demand to shut down an oil pipeline that runs through a channel linking two of the Great Lakes, contending that Gov. Saying Enbridge had repeatedly violated the terms and put the lakes at risk, Whitmer gave the company 180 days — until May 12 — to turn off the flow. Enbridge filed a federal lawsuit challenging the order shortly after it was issued. Enbridge has “no intention of shutting down the pipelines based on these unspecified allegations," Koby said in an interview. The company is seeking state and federal permits for the $500 million project, which is not affected by the shutdown order.

DETROIT – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said she is ready to file sanctions against the attorneys who filed lawsuits on behalf of the Trump campaign. The lawsuits have been filed in Michigan and in federal courts. READ: Michigan AG returns fire on Trump: ‘You’re not our type’This year was spent battling COVID lawsuits, election lawsuits and fighting to shutdown Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac. Nessel has spent a good part of 2020 defending the governor’s COVID executive orders and orders from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Then there are the election lawsuits on behalf, or in association with, the Trump campaign.

Enbridge Inc. is suing the state of Michigan for taking steps to shut down the company’s oil pipeline that runs under the Straits of Mackinac. Gretchen Whitmer notified Enbridge that the state was revoking an easement granted in 1953 that allowed an extension of the Line 5 oil pipeline to run through the Straits of Mackinac. We remain highly committed to protecting the Great Lakes, the environment, and all the people who use these waters while delivering energy that people rely on daily. “They have repeatedly violated the terms of the 1953 easement by ignoring structural problems that put our Great Lakes and our families at risk. Today’s lawsuit filed by Enbridge brazenly defies the people of Michigan and their right to protect the Great Lakes from a catastrophic oil spill.

Gretchen Whitmer took legal action Friday to shut down a pipeline that carries oil beneath a channel linking two of the Great Lakes. "They have repeatedly violated the terms of the 1953 easement by ignoring structural problems that put our Great Lakes and our families at risk. The pipeline moves about 23 million gallons (87 million liters) daily between Superior, Wisconsin, and Sarnia, Ontario, traversing parts of northern Michigan and Wisconsin. One of the pipeline supports was damaged this summer, apparently by a boat cable. Placing the pipes beneath a busy shipping lane with no protective cover violated the state's duty to protect the public's interest in Great Lakes waters and bottomlands, the document said.

Gretchen Whitmer took legal action Friday to shut down a pipeline that carries oil beneath a channel linking two of the Great Lakes. “Enbridge has routinely refused to take action to protect our Great Lakes and the millions of Americans who depend on them for clean drinking water and good jobs,” the Democratic governor said in a statement. "They have repeatedly violated the terms of the 1953 easement by ignoring structural problems that put our Great Lakes and our families at risk. One of the pipeline supports was damaged this summer, apparently by a boat cable. Placing the pipes beneath a busy shipping lane with no protective cover violated the state's duty to protect the public's interest in Great Lakes waters and bottomlands, the document said.

The analysis was requested by Oil & Water Don't Mix, a coalition of environmental, business and tribal organizations. Enbridge spokesman Ryan Duffy said the tunnel plans were developed in consultation with experienced geologists and engineers. During an online news conference, O'Mara said the tunnel plans had changed considerably since a 2017 assessment, which described the project as feasible and low-risk. The department plans to issue rulings by the end of the year. Spokesman Nick Assendelft said department staffers would consider the findings of the Oil & Water Don't Mix reviewers along with other public comments.

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the Michigan attorney general's office and the state Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy. A state judge granted a request from Nessel to close the line June 25 after Enbridge reported the damage. The Enbridge report said the nature of the damage and drag marks in the lakebed pointed to a cable or anchor from a small or moderately sized vessel. Enbridge says it has stepped up security measures in the straits since a 6-ton (5.44-metric tonne) barge and tugboat anchor struck Line 5 in April 2018. They have focused primarily on avoiding contact with larger vessels but are being expanded to prevent encounters with smaller ones, Duffy said.

The twin pipes run along the bottom of the 4-mile-long (6.4-kilometer-wide) Straits of Mackinac, which connects Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. They make up one segment of Enbridge's Line 5, which carries oil and liquids used in propane between Superior, Wisconsin, and Sarnia, Ontario. The agreement with Snyder included a pledge to hold the state financially harmless for any damages from a Line 5 spill. But the deal was signed by Enbridge Energy Company Inc., a subsidiary of Enbridge Inc., which is based in Calgary, Alberta. In his letter to the parent company, Eichenger said Enbridge Energy doesn't have the resources to cover costs of a major spill.

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. A Michigan regulatory panel on Tuesday refused to grant quick permission to run a new oil pipeline beneath a channel that connects two of the Great Lakes, deciding instead to conduct a full review. Enbridge filed an application in April with the Michigan Public Service Commission to relocate a segment of its Line 5 that extends beneath the Straits of Mackinac, which links Lakes Huron and Michigan. Enbridge asked the state commission to approve the plan immediately, arguing that the agency in effect had already given permission by allowing the original Line 5 in 1953. Enbridge has already shown that they cannot be trusted, said Sean McBrearty of the environmental coalition Oil & Water Don't Mix. Circuit Judge James Jamo was scheduled to hear arguments Tuesday on whether to extend the order or allow oil to resume flowing through the pipes.

A Michigan regulatory panel refused Tuesday, June 30, 2020, to grant quick permission to run a new oil pipeline beneath a channel that connects two of the Great Lakes, deciding instead to conduct a full review. Enbridge filed an application in April with the Michigan Public Service Commission to relocate a segment of its Line 5 that extends beneath the Straits of Mackinac, which links Lakes Huron and Michigan. (Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy via AP)TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. A Michigan regulatory panel on Tuesday refused to grant quick permission to run a new oil pipeline beneath a channel that connects two of the Great Lakes, deciding instead to conduct a full review. The state Public Service Commission's decision involved a proposed replacement for a segment of Enbridge's Line 5 that extends beneath the Straits of Mackinac, which links Lakes Huron and Michigan. Enbridge filed an application in April with the Public Service Commission to relocate the underwater section of Line 5 into the proposed tunnel.

Whitmer demands answers from Enbridge on pipeline damageBut state attorneys said both should be turned off until an independent review is conducted. Gretchen Whitmer said Enbridge restarted the west leg of Line 5 without sharing enough information about the incident. She called it a brazen disregard for the people of Michigan and the safety of the Great Lakes. Enbridge understands the importance of the Great Lakes to the State and the need to protect the Straits, the environment and people. The east leg pipeline remains shut down, while the west leg was restarted after a thorough review and consultation with our safety regulator.

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer demanded Friday that Enbridge Energy provide proof that the damage to one of its dual oil pipelines under the Straits of Mackinac will not pose a threat to the area. Whitmer said the damage and how it occurred calls into question the viability of the pipeline. Thats why I am requesting Enbridge turn over to the State of Michigan all relevant information about this most recent damage and provide affirmative evidence that establishes the integrity of the pipeline, Whitmer said in a statement. Duffy clarified that the problem does not affect the pipeline, which he said was shut down as a precaution. The EPA determined that Enbridge neglected to properly evaluate thousands of shallow dents on its Lakehead Pipeline System, which runs across northern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin.

MACKINAW CITY, Mich. – A 200-foot-long broken boring pipe remains embedded in the Straits of Mackinac and may not be recoverable by a company that operates a fuel pipeline, officials said. Enbridge Inc. retrieved a broken 45-foot rod in December and told state regulators that a pipe of similar length remained. But the leftover pipe actually is 200 feet long, the Detroit Free Press reported Wednesday. The broken pipe was related to a project last summer. “I don't expect much would be done (to recover) that remaining 200 feet of grout rod," Haas said.

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LANSING, Mich. - Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has taken legal steps to shut down Enbridge's controversial Line 5 oil pipelines in the Straits of Mackinac. The AG's office said they have filed a lawsuit in a first step to decommission Line 5. Nessels lawsuit seeks an order from the Court to shut down and decommission the Straits pipelines as soon as possible. Once that occurred, there was no need for further delay.The Attorney Generals lawsuit identifies a potential anchor strike as the most significant risk to Line 5. Today, Governor Whitmer filed her response asking the court to dismiss Enbridges lawsuit.