The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has decided to fast-track permits for building a protective tunnel around an aging Enbridge oil pipeline that runs beneath a channel connecting two Great Lakes, stoking environmentalists’ fears that the project will escape scrutiny, damage the sensitive region and perpetuate fossil fuel use.

The move comes after President Donald Trump issued an executive order in January declaring that the U.S. has become too dependent on foreign energy sources. The order mandates that federal agencies identify energy infrastructure projects for expedited emergency permitting from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency.

The corps designated the tunnel project on Line 5 as an emergency under the order late Tuesday. The corps had initially planned to make a permitting decision early next year. Corps officials were vague during a conference call with reporters Wednesday morning about how quickly the process may move forward.

The Detroit District’s regulatory chief, Shane McCoy, said that the timeline will be “truncated” but didn’t elaborate beyond saying no steps would be skipped and the process will result in “a very legally defensible, very well-informed decision.”

Multiple groups lined up to criticize the fast-track decision Wednesday, including the Sierra Club, environmental law firm Earthjustice and the Great Lakes Business Network, a coalition of businesses that works to protect the Great Lakes with sustainable business practices.

“The only energy ‘emergency’ the American people face is Trump’s efforts to disregard clean air and water safeguards in order to rush through dirty, dangerous fossil fuel projects,” said Mahyar Sorour, director of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Fossil Fuels Policy.

Enbridge spokesperson Ryan Duffy said in a statement Wednesday that Line 5 is “critical energy infrastructure” and the tunnel project is designed to “make a safe pipeline safer.” He noted that Enbridge first began applying for permits five years ago.

The pipeline runs through northern Wisconsin into Michigan’s upper and lower peninsulas before terminating in Sarnia, Ontario, in Canada. Enbridge has used the pipeline since 1953 to transport crude oil and natural gas liquids between Superior, Wisconsin, and Sarnia. It currently moves about 23 million gallons (87 million liters) a day, according to Enbridge. Part of the pipeline runs beneath the Straits of Mackinac, a channel that connects Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.