LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – The Whitmer administration’s battle to shut down Enbridge Energy’s Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac received another setback on Wednesday. That’s when a federal district court judge handed down another defeat for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nessel.
U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker ruled that federal law governing pipeline safety trumps the state from enforcing a 2020 order that would have shut down Line 5.
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In addition, Judge Jonker said Congress has jurisdiction of pipeline safety through the Pipeline Safety Act of 1992. He also added that Canada, where Enbridge is based, and the U.S. agree the state’s attempt to shut down Line 5 “interferes with their explicit federal foreign policy positions and trade relations.”
Wednesday’s decision comes after several other attempts to shut down Line 5 in other state and federal courts. However, an appeal of the decision is expected. The Whitmer administration’s alternate plan to oil and gas running through the pipeline is shipping it with trucks.
Enbridge Energy is spending $500 million of its own money to build a tunnel around Line 5. The company’s easement in the Straits of Mackinac dates back to 1953. There have been no accidents or oil spills at the hands of Enbridge, but a 2018 anchor strike from a tugboat damaged the cables and released hundreds of gallons of mineral oil into the water.
