Michigan regulators approve $500M pipeline tunnel project under channel linking 2 Great Lakes

Michigan officials approved a $500 million plan Friday to encase in a protective tunnel a portion of an oil pipeline that runs beneath a channel connecting two Great Lakes, leaving just one more regulatory hurdle for the contentious project. The state's three-person Public Service Commission approved the project in the Straits of Mackinac on a 2-0 vote. Commissioner Alessandra Carreon abstained, noting she just joined the commission four months ago. The commission's chairperson, Dan Scripps, said that an oil spill in the straits, which link Lake Michigan to Lake Huron,...