A Michigan appeals court has ruled that Enbridge Energy's plans to build a tunnel around an aging pipeline that runs beneath a Great Lakes channel can continue.

The Michigan Court of Appeals has upheld a permit for Enbridge Energy’s plan to bury an oil pipeline beneath the environmentally sensitive Straits of Mackinac.

Environmental groups, tribes had challenged Michigan Public Service Commission approval for Enbridge to build a tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac.

Enbridge wants to build a protective tunnel around a 4-mile section of its Line 5 pipeline that runs along the bottom of the Straits of Mackinac.