The Michigan Court of Appeals found that the state’s Public Service Commission (PSC) correctly granted permits, allowing Enbridge’s Line 5 to clear one of many remaining legal hurdles.

The court released its decision on Feb. 19.

“We find no basis upon which to reverse the PSC’s final order,” the court ruling said.

A group of environmentalists and some of the area's first-nations tribes brought the suit after the PSC approved the permits in December 2023. The project’s opponents argued unsuccessfully that the state’s PSC did not allow them to introduce evidence about the continued need for the line.

The project still faces legal challenges in Michigan and in other states along the route. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer wants the line re-routed away from the strait, and her attorney general filed a lawsuit in 2019 to void the line’s easement. The case is pending.

Line 5 is one of Enbridge’s primary crude lines, carrying products from Canada to Midwestern refineries. The Canadian midstream company plans to build a tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac, which joins lakes Huron and Michigan, to house the pipeline to improve its safety and maintenance. The line currently sits on the bottom of the lakebed.

The White House brought some attention to the project this week, when Line 5 was included in a list of projects to which the Army Corps of Engineers could potentially give fast-track permitting.

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