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This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here. This coverage is made possible through a partnership between Grist and Interlochen Public Radio in northern Michigan.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a key permit for a plan to update an aging segment of the Line 5 pipeline crossing the Straits of Mackinac in Michigan, the waterways that tribal nations say are central to their ways of life.

It’s a procedural win for Line 5 owner Enbridge Energy, but comes amid ongoing legal and regulatory hurdles at the state level that prevent the start of construction. The pipeline carries oil and natural gas liquids 645 miles from Superior, Wisconsin, through Michigan to Sarnia, Ontario, and Enbridge wants to replace a 4-mile segment that lays on the bottom of the ecologically sensitive straits with a new one, buried in a tunnel under the lakebed.

In a statement issued with the decision, the Army Corps said the project wasn’t contrary to the public interest, complied with Clean Water Act guidelines, and “would not abrogate or impermissibly impair tribal treaty rights.” Review of the permit was fast-tracked under President Donald Trump’s executive order last year declaring a “national energy emergency.”

For Michigan tribes that have fought for years to shut down the pipeline, the federal permit approval was “disrespectful and ludicrous,” said Austin Lowes, chairman of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians.

“They’re acutely aware of the impact that this project will have on Indian Country, and they just flat-out ignored it,” Lowes said. “It’s one of the most disgusting things that I’ve ever been confronted with as a tribal leader.”

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According to the Army Corps........

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