Democratic presidential hopeful Inslee opposes pipeline plan

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Democratic presidential hopeful Jay Inslee is wading into a Great Lakes regional controversy by coming out against a proposed oil pipeline tunnel.

The Washington state governor opposes a plan favored by Enbridge Inc. to route the company’s Line 5 pipeline through a tunnel that would be built beneath the Straits of Mackinac, the channel linking Lakes Huron and Michigan.

The tunnel segment would replace dual pipes that have run across the straits bottomlands for 66 years.

In a statement released to The Associated Press on Wednesday, Inslee describes the existing pipes and the proposed tunnel as “a clear and present danger to the health of the Great Lakes and to our climate.”

He says the tunnel should be a primary topic during a Democratic presidential debate in Detroit this month.