Permitting for the project to house the Line 5 pipeline has been delayed for years over environmental concerns.
Republican Senator John Damoose says rural areas and the Upper Peninsula depend on gas carried by Line 5.
“Up North, I got to tell you, we get tired of people coming up and protesting the line and patting themselves on the back as if they’ve done something, and then getting in their SUVs to drive home.”
But “Clean Water Action” Michigan State Director Sean McBrearty says most of the fuel the pipeline carries doesn’t go to Michigan households.
“Michigan is being used as a pass through for Canadian oil. We do not benefit.”
Operators estimate 22-million gallons of fuel pass through Line 5 daily.