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A federal judge on Dec. 17 blocked Gov. Gretchen Whitmer‘s attempt to shut down an aging oil pipeline running beneath a channel linking two of the Great Lakes, finding that only the federal government can regulate interstate pipeline safety.
Whitmer ordered regulators in 2020 to revoke an easement that allows Enbridge Inc. to operate a 4.5-mile pipeline segment under the Straits of Mackinac, which link Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. Whitmer made the move out of concern that the 72-year-old pipeline could rupture and cause a catastrophic spill.
Enbridge filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block the revocation and the pipeline continues to operate. President Donald Trump’s administration argued in filings this year that Whitmer’s order interferes with U.S. foreign energy policy and that only the federal government, not the states, can regulate pipeline safety. The pipeline segment, known as Line 5, moves crude oil between Superior, Wisconsin, and Sarnia, Ontario.
U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker wrote in an opinion that revoking the easement would effectively shut down Line 5. He found that Congress expressly prohibited states from regulating interstate pipeline safety in the Pipeline Safety Act of 1992. He also noted that the United States and Canada agree that Michigan’s attempt to shut down the pipeline interferes with their federal foreign policy positions and trade relations.
“An oil spill in Michigan’s Great Lakes would undoubtedly be an environmental catastrophe. And Michigan would undoubtedly be the recipient of almost all the environmental damage that would result,” Jonker wrote. “But for better or worse, the national government has unequivocally decided to displace state power in this area and assume exclusive responsibility for interstate pipeline safety.”
A message seeking comment was left for a spokesperson for Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, whose office represented Whitmer’s administration in the lawsuit. A Whitmer spokesperson referred questions to Nessel.
Enbridge issued a statement saying the line is safe and that Jonker’s ruling protects both the United States and Canada from “significant energy disruptions.”
