Great Lakes Tunnel Permits

Mike Alaimo, Senior Director of Legislative and External Affairs with the Michigan Chamber of Commerce joins us to discuss the submission of thousands of signatures to the US Army Corps of Engineers to allow permits for the Great Lakes Tunnel.

More information can be found here: https://www.greatlakesmichiganjobs.com/

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
I had a full the pattern was full, Maverick, But
yesterday I saw press release and we jumped Mike Alaimo
on the program. Who is vice president? I'm sorry, the
senior director of Legislative and External Affairs of the Michigan
Chamber of Commerce. Mike, thanks for doing this today.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Yeah, thanks so much. Good morning.

Speaker 1 (00:17):
The Great Legs Job Coalition announced yesterday that they submitted
the signatures of thousands of local residents asking permitters of
the US Army Corps of Engineers to move forward. And
we're talking about the Great Lakes Tunnel. Mike, where do
we stand with this thing?

Speaker 2 (00:34):
Right? Well, it has been a long and deliberative process,
but not without some political theater involved as well. The
company en Bridged has been working to build the Great
Lakes Tunnel part of a bipartisan legislation and under the
Center administration. I have been working for this process for

(00:58):
years now. We've gotten permits from the NPSC Thision, Public
Service Commission, Eagle, the state environmental regulator, and now we're
at this final state where the Army Core of Engineers
on their environmental impact assessment and what they've what they've
shown is that essentially what We've known this entire time

(01:20):
that we can we can do this. This will be
a exceptional mega infrastructure project, but also a critical lifeline
for the state, and so we're excited to move this forward.

Speaker 1 (01:33):
We talked to us a little bit about that that
public comment. We know from the opposition and the lawsuit
from the Age that they're worried about the environment. What
do you say to assuage those fears.

Speaker 2 (01:45):
Yes, yes, we have heard from opponents that have voiced
concerns about the environment. And of course we know that
the pipeline as it currently exists poses very little threat
to the waters. It is an exceptional condition. It is
monitored twenty four to seven. We know that, but we

(02:07):
also know that to take the utmost of precaution, we're
going to move forward with this tunnel project. And what's
what's great about that is you now have this tunnel
that is actually really a utility corridor. It can serve
as more than just a house for the pipeline. It
can also you know, run fiber optic and other type

(02:30):
of utility infrastructure, and so that's a really exciting aspect
of that as well. But of course we know that
you know, Michigan uses more propane than any other state
in the country. Just five percent of the up's propane
comes from line five fifty of the Lower Northern Peninsula,
and so this is literally a lifeline to keep our homes,

(02:55):
our schools, and our hospitals heated and running. And so
we need this projected. So it's exciting to see this
next stage. We expect the Army Corps engineer to keep
working through the deliberative process finalize the EIS and that
really opens up the stage to start getting shovels in

(03:15):
the account.

Speaker 1 (03:16):
We'll get the link to Great Lakes Michigan jobs dot com.
Mike Alino is the Alimo is the Michigan Director Senior
Director of Legislative and Executive Affairs at the Michigan Chamber
of Commerce. There you go, Mike, thanks for your time today.

Speaker 2 (03:31):
Thank you so much every great day

Speaker 1 (03:33):
And you the same