LANSING — Gov. Rick Snyder on Wednesday signed legislation to create a new authority to oversee a proposed Line 5 tunnel in the Straits of Mackinac and named a top aide, an academic and a labor leader as its three members.
Snyder signed Senate Bill 1197 to create the Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority one day after he received the bill from the Legislature.
That's unusually quick, but Snyder wants to get the authority up and running and agreements finalized with Canadian energy giant Enbridge, the operator of the aging oil pipeline that crosses the Straits of Mackinac, before the end of the year.
That's when Democrats Gretchen Whitmer and Dana Nessel assume the offices of governor and attorney general respectively.
Both oppose the tunnel plan as leaving Michigan at risk for a catastrophic spill during the seven to 10 years it is expected to take to dig the $350-million tunnel in bedrock beneath the straits. Both Whitmer and Nessel say they want to decommission Line 5 as soon as possible.
Snyder's appointees to the three-member authority, each for a six-year term, are:
- Snyder Cabinet Secretary Mike Zimmer, who formerly served as director of the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.
- Anthony (Tony) England, dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Michigan.
- Geno Alessandrini, business manager for the Michigan Laborers District Council, where he oversees affairs for more than 13,000 Michigan construction workers.
Snyder said both England and Alessandrini are Democrats. Zimmer is a Republican. No more than two members from the same party may sit in the authority.
Enbridge is to pay the cost of tunnel construction.
The tunnel bill could face court challenges.
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4.