Michigan regulators will take public comments on a proposal for more anchor supports in the Straits of Mackinac to bolster twin oil pipelines.
Enbridge Inc. is asking the Department of Environmental Quality to allow installation of 48 additional supports for its Line 5 pipes. They would be attached to the pipes and screwed into the lakebed.
A public hearing is scheduled for Wednesday in Mackinaw City.
Line 5 extends from Superior, Wisconsin, to Sarnia, Ontario. A nearly 5-mile section runs beneath the straits, where Lake Huron and Lake Michigan converge.
The company has made several requests to install supports after gaps were discovered beneath the pipes. The DEQ granted a permit for 22 earlier this year.
Environmental groups want Line 5 decommissioned and say the supports wouldn't necessarily make it safer.
