skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, April 29, 2025

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Trump marks first 100 days in office in campaign mode, focused on grudges and grievances; Maine's Rep. Pingree focuses on farm resilience as USDA cuts funding; AZ protesters plan May Day rally against Trump administration; Proposed Medicaid cuts could threaten GA families' health, stability.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Trump marks first 100 days of his second term. GOP leaders praise the administration's immigration agenda, and small businesses worry about the impacts of tariffs as 90-day pause ends.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Migration to rural America increased for the fourth year, technological gaps handicap rural hospitals and erode patient care, and doctors are needed to keep the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians healthy and align with spiritual principles.

MI environmentalists alarmed about potential Line 5 emergency permit status

play audio
Play

Wednesday, February 26, 2025   

Michigan environmental groups are pushing back as Enbridge's Line 5 tunnel faces "emergency" review, potentially bypassing full scrutiny and public input.

The move comes after President Donald Trump's executive order declared a national energy emergency to fast-track infrastructure projects. Environmental groups warn a Line 5 tunnel leak threatens the Great Lakes.

Sean McBrearty, campaign coordinator for the advocacy group Oil and Water Don't Mix, believes public outcry over the past week, led the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to remove 600 emergency-designated projects, including Line 5, from its website.

"Now we don't know whether they've changed the status of those projects or the proposed status of those projects," McBrearty pointed out. "Or whether they're still doing the same thing and just attempting to hide it from the public."

The tunnel would replace lake bed pipelines beneath the Straits of Mackinac with a concrete-lined enclosure for Line 5. In a recent statement Enbridge said, in part, Michigan approved environmental permits and tunnel placement for Line 5, but after nearly five years, the project still awaits a U.S. Army Corps decision on its environmental impact.

Meanwhile, the Michigan Court of Appeals recently upheld state permits for the tunnel, allowing Enbridge to move forward. McBrearty argued Enbridge lacks tunnel-building experience, calling them "ditch diggers" and labeling Line 5 a high-risk, low-reward venture.

"This tunnel would be actually the highest pressurized tunnel in the world, if it's built," McBrearty noted. "Pressure down there is measured at seventeen atmospheres - five atmospheres is enough to kill somebody. That shouldn't be rushed through as an emergency under any circumstances."

Enbridge maintains the Line 5 tunnel enhances pipeline safety, ensures energy reliability, supports jobs, and has 70% of Michiganders' support.

Disclosure: Oil and Water Don't Mix contributes to our fund for reporting on Climate Change/Air Quality, Environment, Environmental Justice, and Water. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
A day before Judge Hannah Dugan was arrested, federal authorities apprehended a former New Mexico judge and his wife on charges related to harboring an undocumented immigrant. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Legal experts and advocates are outraged over the arrest of a Milwaukee judge last week who was charged with helping an undocumented defendant avoid a…


play sound

President Donald Trump and Elon Musk have proposed privatizing the United States Postal Service by selling it off to a corporation such as FedEx or UP…

Health and Wellness

play sound

By Brett Kelman for KFF Health News.Broadcast version by Freda Ross for Arkansas News Service reporting for the KFF Health News-Public News Service Co…


Advocates from Compassion & Choices attended a hearing for Senate Bill 403 before the State Senate Committee on Health on April 23. (Patricia Portillo/Compassion & Choices)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A bill to make medical aid in dying permanently legal in California goes before the state Senate Judiciary Committee today. The End of Life Option …

Environment

play sound

A major player in the Northwest's energy landscape is considering changes in the future, as extreme climate events make power delivery in Oregon more …

The Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River in Washington is the largest in the Bonneville Power Administration system. (Will/Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

A major player in the Northwest's energy landscape is considering changes in the future as extreme climate events make power delivery in Washington mo…

Social Issues

play sound

On May 1, Oregon labor and immigrants' rights organizations are gathering in Salem calling for justice for immigrant workers and an end to mass …

Social Issues

play sound

LGBTQ+ advocates in South Dakota are reeling from passage of another state law they said harms their community. Now, there is concern possible …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021