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 tunnel would be constructed around a four-mile section of pipeline but more permits are still needed before the project can receive the green light.

LANSING — The Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed a state order authorizing a plan to replace part of the Line 5 oil pipeline and encase it in a tunnel beneath the Straits of Mackinac lakebed.

More than a month after attorneys for several Native American tribes and environmental advocacy groups urged the Michigan Court of Appeals to overturn one of the permits needed for Canadian