LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – The U.S. Supreme Court will review whether Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s case against Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline, a company that transports crude oil, belongs in the state or federal court.
Nessel filed case in 2019.
In 2019, Nessel filed a case against Enbridge to shut down the company’s Line 5 pipeline that runs underwater across the the Straits of Mackinac between Michigan’s Lower and Upper Peninsulas.
“The Straits of Mackinac is a fragile and unique ecosystem that must be defended from those who would risk it, and the way of life for hundreds of Michigan communities in the north, for continued fossil fuel profits,” Nessel said in a statement last year.
Circuit court said case belongs in state court.
Michigan’s sixth circuit court of appeals said the case belonged in the state court.
“This case never should have left state court in the first place, and after this long delay caused by Enbridge’s procedural manipulations, we’re elated to welcome Nessel v. Enbridge back to its rightful judicial venue,” Nessel said. “The State has an obligation and imperative to protect the Great Lakes from the threat of pollution, especially the devastating catastrophe a potential Line 5 rupture would wreak upon all of Michigan. As we’ve long argued, this is a Michigan case brought under Michigan law that the People of Michigan and its courts should rightly decide.”
Enbridge reacts to potential Line 5 pipline shutdown.
Enbridge said its Line 5 pipeline is necessary to provide reliable and affordable energy in Michigan.
“Line 5 delivers the light oil and natural gas liquids that heat homes and businesses, fuel vehicles and power industry,” an Enbridge article said. It supplies more than half of the propane used in Michigan, where more than 300,000 families rely on propane for home heating.”
Enbridge also said closing the Line 5 pipeline will disrupt the economies of Michigan and its surrounding states.
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“Shutting down Line 5, even temporarily, would have an immediate and severe effect on the economies of Michigan, Ohio, Ontario and elsewhere,” the article said. “It would threaten thousands of jobs, terminate a vital source of home heating fuel, and jeopardize commerce in the region (the light oil currently moved on Line 5 is refined into gas, diesel and jet fuel supplying Michigan’s airports).”
The Supreme Court will now determine whether the case should be heard in the state or federal court.