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A three-judge Court of Appeals panel rules that Enbridge missed a key deadline to move the case to federal court. It’s the latest twist in a lawsuit that has dragged on since 2019.
In addition to the multibillion-dollar costs of constructing a tunnel under the Great Lakes and rerouting the decaying pipeline around the Bad River Band, the Line 5 project presents enormous environmental risks.
Attorney General Dana Nessel’s team was back in federal court this week, arguing that her long-running lawsuit to shut down Enbridge’s Line 5 oil pipeline should be decided in Michigan.
The ruling puts Enbridge Energy a step closer to tunnel construction despite opposition from environmental and Native American groups and Democratic officials. Critics say they fear catastrophe if the pipelines remain in the Straits of Mackinac.
The Canadian energy giant pleads with Michigan officials to intervene, saying federal authorities are slow-walking their review of a key permit needed to build a tunnel in a pipeline under the Straits of Mackinac.
A federal judge in Wisconsin has ordered Enbridge to reroute its Line 5 pipeline around Native American land within three years. The judge also found the Canadian energy giant trespassed on the land and must pay more than $5 million.
The attorney general on Wednesday filed a brief in Wisconsin federal court supporting a Native American tribe’s effort to shut down the Line 5 pipeline over fears of a rupture into a river that runs through tribal land.
Pipeline opponents say there could be a spill, yet they oppose a plan to develop a less risky alternative by building a tunnel. Closing the region’s most important energy provider would harm both the U.S. and Canada.
A tunnel to encase the Line 5 oil and gas pipeline below the Straits of Mackinac was originally supposed to be built by 2024. Instead, construction won’t begin until 2026 due to federal regulators’ delays, if it begins at all.
Joe Biden is making his first presidential visit to Canada this week. He can be silent no longer as Canada supports the efforts of Enbridge Energy to keep its aging oil and gas pipeline flowing through the Straits of Mackinac.
Legal experts say Michigan has a better chance of persuading a state court to shut down the pipeline, while Enbridge is more likely to prevail in federal court.
Don’t expect big new efforts to shut down Line 5 when Democrats take control. Those on both sides of the issue say the pipeline’s fate is now in the hands of a federal judge and President Joe Biden.
Whitmer wants to close Line 5, prepare for climate change, watchdog industrial polluters and update water safety. Dixon wants Line 5 open, regulations cut and a state that treats businesses like customers, not adversaries.
A federal judge ruled the attorney general’s suit seeking a Line 5 pipeline shutdown should be heard in federal court. Nessel wanted the matter kept in state court, where she saw a more secure path to victory.
The Michigan Public Service Commission voted to collect more evidence on safety and explosion risks before deciding whether to grant the Canadian energy company a key permit to begin the tunnel project in the Straits of Mackinac.
The risk of keeping Line 5 open or building a new pipeline does not outweigh the very real harms that can and will result from its continued operation.
The best way to make this already safe pipeline even safer is to move forward with the plan to get it out of the water and into the Great Lakes Tunnel, far below the Straits of Mackinac.
Republicans want to suspend the state’s 27-cent-per-gallon gas tax for six months, a relief for drivers but that would cost the state $770 million. Some Democrats want to halt the 6-percent sales tax on gasoline instead.
