Great Lakes water surge eases after 2 record-setting years

May 11, 2021 9:34 am Leave a comment

Erosion reaches a house along Lake Michigan's southwestern shoreline in Stevensville, Michigan, on Dec. 4, 2019. A months-long spell of dry, mild weather is giving the Great Lakes a break after two years of high water that shattered records and heavily damaged shoreline roads and homes, officials said on Monday. (Robert Franklin/South Bend Tribune via AP. file)

A spell of dry, mild weather is giving the Great Lakes a break after two years of high water that has shattered records and heavily damaged shoreline roads and houses, officials said Monday.

Tagged with: Lake Huron Lake Michigan

Company begins replacing underwater cables damaged by anchor

May 3, 2021 10:16 am Leave a comment

The company whose underwater power cables were damaged by an anchor strike in Michigan's Straits of Mackinac three years ago said Monday it was beginning to install replacements.

Tagged with: Lake Huron Lake Michigan

Court: Michigan Great Lakes tunnel deal constitutional

June 12, 2020 1:10 pm Leave a comment

Nuts, bolts and fittings are ready to be added on June 8, 2017, to the east leg of the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline near St. Ignace, Michigan, as Enbridge prepares to test the east and west sides of the Line 5 pipeline under the Straits of Mackinac in Mackinaw City, Michigan. (Dale G. Young/Detroit News via AP, File)

The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that legislators did not violate the state constitution by allowing the construction of an oil pipeline tunnel beneath a channel linking two of the Great Lakes, clearing the way for the project to proceed unless another court intervenes.

Tagged with: Dana Nessel Enbridge Energy Gretchen Whitmer Lake Huron Lake Michigan Line 5 Michigan Straits of Mackinac

Grants seek solution to Great Lakes pollution

February 25, 2020 10:36 am Leave a comment

The Mackinac Bridge spans the Straits of Mackinac from Mackinaw City, Mich., in July 2002. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder hopes to use the final weeks of his time in office to lock in a deal allowing the construction of a hotly debated oil pipeline tunnel beneath a channel linking two of the Great Lakes - a plan his successor is opposed to but may be powerless to stop. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)

Federal grants totaling more than $1.8 million are being awarded to five organizations for projects that will use market approaches to reduce nutrient pollution that leads to harmful algae blooms in the Great Lakes, officials said on Monday.

Tagged with: Great Lakes Lake Huron Lake Michigan

Millions of dollars going into protecting houses, businesses near Great Lakes

February 7, 2020 8:46 am Leave a comment

Logan Farrington works on Jan. 8 under a house being lifted in Luna Pier, Michigan. The project will protect the home from the rising level of Lake Erie. High water is wreaking havoc across the Great Lakes, which are bursting at the seams less than a decade after bottoming out. The sharp turnabout is being driven by the region's wettest period in more than a century. Scientists say it is likely connected to the warming climate. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Rita Alton has an unusual morning routine these days: Wake up. Get dressed. Go outside to see if her house is closer to tumbling down an 80-foot cliff into Lake Michigan.

Tagged with: climate change flooding Lake Erie Lake Huron Lake Michigan Residential Construction

Michigan AG will attempt to shut pipeline down in June if there’s no deal

May 30, 2019 8:58 am Leave a comment

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel attends an event for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, in Clawson, Michigan, on March 18. Nessel says she will try next month to decommission a Great Lakes oil pipeline if Gov. Gretchen Whitmer cannot come to terms with the operator of the line, Enbridge. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya File)

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said on Wednesday she will try in June to shut down a Great Lakes oil pipeline if the governor cannot reach a resolution with the operator of the line, Enbridge, saying the state will be in "great peril" if oil continues to flow under a delicate waterway.

Tagged with: Dana Nessel Enbridge Energy Gretchen Whitmer Lake Huron Lake Michigan Michigan Straits of Mackinac

Volunteers sought to assess hazards in Straits of Mackinac

May 28, 2019 9:36 am Leave a comment

The U.S. Coast Guard is looking for volunteers to help assess environmental and navigation hazards in the Straits of Mackinac, the channel that links lakes Huron and Michigan.

Tagged with: Lake Huron Lake Michigan Straits of Mackinac

Michigan governor halts Great Lakes pipeline tunnel project (UPDATE)

March 28, 2019 4:52 pm Leave a comment

The Michigan attorney general has deemed unconstitutional a 2018 law that established a panel to oversee the construction and operation of an oil pipeline tunnel beneath the channel linking lakes Huron and Michigan

Tagged with: Dana Nessel Enbridge Energy Lake Huron Lake Michigan Michigan Straits of Mackinac

Planned Great Lakes oil pipeline tunnel clears final hurdle

December 20, 2018 6:21 am Leave a comment

The Mackinac Bridge spans the Straits of Mackinac. Michigan officials are debating whether there should be a replacement of the 65-year-old twin pipelines that now run through the straits, which link lakes Michigan and Huron. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)

A proposal to run an oil pipeline beneath a waterway connecting two Great Lakes cleared its final hurdle on Wednesday, gaining approval of a Michigan panel created a week earlier in a dash to complete the deal before Republican Gov. Rick Snyder left office.

Tagged with: Enbridge Energy Gov. Rick Snyder Lake Huron Lake Michigan Michigan oil pipeline Straits of Mackinac