The Michigan Public Service Commission met Friday, but commissioners have yet to decide whether to allow a controversial gasoline pipeline project to begin later this year.

Wolverine Pipe Line Co. executives want a $40-million, 26-mile pipeline laid alongside Interstate 96, but they need permission from state departments, several area townships and the city of Lansing before the project can begin.

Public service commission officials aren’t giving much of an indication as to when they’ll vote on the plan. The commission meets again July 10.

Gary Kitts, chief administrative officer for the commission, said the nature of the case might be delaying the decision.

“We get very few like this,” Kitts said. “I’ve worked here for 26 years, and I can’t remember when we had an application for a major petroleum pipeline.

“That doesn’t mean there haven’t been any. Natural gas pipelines are routine.”

The gasoline pipeline would pump petroleum from Stockbridge to the north side of Lansing, replacing a 65-year-old line that runs through Meridian Township and East Lansing. Company officials say the new pipeline would include more safety features and have a larger diameter.

But some Lansing officials and residents near the highway have expressed concern about gas contaminating the area’s water supply.

Wolverine spokesman Tom Shields said the delay by the state isn’t surprising.

“It’s my understanding that there hasn’t been a new one built in more than 20 years, other than the one Wolverine built last year,” Shields said.

Kitts said the commissioners took about four months to decide on that particular pipeline, which runs from Jackson to Stockbridge.

“There’s no specific schedule,” Kitts said. “It will probably happen sometime in the next few months.”

Shields said company executives hope that is the case, so they can complete the pipeline this year. He said some of the affected communities are waiting for the commission’s decision before giving consent.

The Lansing City Council also is waiting for the commission, council President Larry Meyer said. The mayor’s office has recommended the city oppose the pipeline.

“Their decision has to come first,” he said. “The timetable’s not set by us, it’s set by the public service commission.”