Michigan Officials Make New Legal Push to Shut Enbridge Line 5 -- OPIS
28 February 2023 - 06:07AM
Dow Jones News
Officials in Michigan are renewing their efforts to force the
shutdown of an underwater section of Enbridge Inc.'s Line 5
pipeline that runs under the Straits of Mackinac.
State Attorney General Dana Nessel plans to appeal a federal
judge's decision that the legal battle over the pipeline should be
heard in federal court.
A federal judge last week approved Ms. Nessel's motion asking to
appeal an August ruling that the case should be heard in federal
court because the state's efforts to shut the pipeline involve
federal and international issues.
In her ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Janet Neff ruled that
the original decision involves issues that allow for "substantial
ground for difference of opinion."
The question of which court hears the case is important as legal
observers believe a federal court would be more likely to rule in
Enbridge's favor, while a state court may be more sympathetic to
Ms. Nessel's arguments.
Judge Neff wrote that allowing the appeal now could help the
case be solved more quickly than if the case were heard in federal
court and Michigan then appealed and had the matter sent back to a
state court.
The ruling is the latest in a long-running legal battle over the
fate of the pipeline, which carries 540,000 b/d of light crude and
mixed NGLs from Superior, Wis., to Sarnia, Ontario.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer had ordered the underwater
segment of the pipeline shut in May 2021, claiming Enbridge
violated the terms of a state easement for that area and that the
threat of a spill into the Great Lakes was too great to allow the
pipeline to continue operating.
Enbridge ignored the order, claiming only federal regulators
have the power to order the pipeline shut. Michigan's fight to
close the line became an international issue when Canada said
keeping Line 5 operating is a national priority and invoked the
dispute resolution provisions of a 1977 pipeline treaty with the
U.S.
Enbridge has so far been successful in its efforts to keep the
case in federal court, with Judge Neff originally ruling in
November 2021 in the company's favor.
Ms. Nessel then dropped that case and filed another in state
court, leading to the current fight over jurisdiction.
While the Biden administration has largely kept silent on the
dispute, in her original decision on the matter, Judge Neff ruled
that the case raised "vitally important questions that implicate
the federal regulatory scheme for pipeline safety and international
affairs issues."
The judge also noted the pipeline treaty applies to the land
pipelines occupy and bars public authorities not covered by the
treaty from instituting measures that would interfere with pipeline
operations. She also said that the federal Pipeline Safety Act
prohibits states from imposing safety regulations on interstate
pipeline operations.
In its filings, Enbridge argues that the latest Michigan effort
to have the case heard in state court is virtually identical to the
one Judge Neff has already ruled on and that Ms. Nessel now is
merely focusing on technicalities on the timing of legal
action.
The company said the case still raises federal and international
issues best dealt with by a federal court.
"This is especially true in light of the major implications of
this case for diplomatic relations between the United States and
Canada," the company said in legal papers.
Gov. Whitmer and Ms. Nessel campaigned on a pledge to shut the
pipeline. Enbridge is moving ahead with plans to replace the aging
underwater section of the pipeline with a $500 million tunnel
beneath the straits. The company says the tunnel would protect the
pipeline from anchor strikes and would also serve to prevent any
leaks from contaminating the Great Lakes.
Gov. Whitmer and Ms. Nessel oppose the tunnel plan.
This content was created by Oil Price Information Service, which
is operated by Dow Jones & Co. OPIS is run independently from
Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
--Reporting by Steve Cronin, scronin@opisnet.com ; Editing by
Christie Citranglo, ccitranglo@opisnet.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 27, 2023 13:52 ET (18:52 GMT)
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