The eastern leg of the pipeline near St. Ignace, Michigan, on June 8, 2017. Dale G. Young/Associated Press
Calgary-based Enbridge Inc. ENB-T has yet again emerged with a gradual victory from a Michigan court after a judge ruled that the company’s long-running dispute with the state over the Line 5 transboundary pipeline belongs in federal court.
Judge Janet Neff wrote in her ruling Thursday that the “exceptional circumstances of this case,” Michigan’s conduct and the court’s “respect for the comprehensive and effective administration of justice” required the legal dispute to remain in federal court.
The ruling is a blow to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s attempt to shut down the pipeline, but it echoes a similar ruling Judge Neff made in November regarding jurisdiction over the case.
It then agreed with Enbridge that its dispute with Ms. Whitmer’s administration involved “substantial federal issues” and therefore belonged in federal court. She wrote Thursday that it would be “absurd” for the court to “undermine its previous decision” and continue the state-federal battle.
She added that Michigan appears to be trying “to gain an unfair advantage by improperly using the judicial machinery.”
Closing the Line 5 pipeline would have “negative consequences” on both sides of the Canada-US border, chambers of commerce say
The feud began in November 2020 when, in keeping with a campaign promise, Ms. Whitmer revoked an easement permit granted in 1953 that allowed Line 5 to cross the environmentally sensitive Straits of Mackinac.
At the time, she called the pipeline a “time bomb” and gave Enbridge until May 12, 2021 to comply.
But Enbridge argues that only the federal government can judge the safety of a pipeline and that the case therefore belongs in federal court because Line 5 is an important bipartisan issue with ramifications for both sides.
Michigan countered that the company violated a rule that moving cases from one court to another must be done within 30 days of the initial filing, but Judge Neff again rejected that argument.
Enbridge welcomed the decision Thursday.
“This properly preserves the Michigan Attorney General’s case in federal court and emphasizes that the state’s attempts to shut down this critical energy infrastructure raise important federal questions about interstate commerce, exclusive federal jurisdiction over pipeline safety, and serious implications for energy security and foreign affairs.” if the state and the US government oppose an international treaty with Canada that has been in effect since 1977,” the company said in an email.
In October, the Canadian government invoked the 1977 treaty with the United States to begin formal government-to-government talks on the fate of the pipeline, after court-ordered mediation talks between Enbridge and Michigan failed.
The move escalated a dispute in which US President Joe Biden’s administration has been reluctant to intervene, and was the first time it had invoked the Transit Pipeline Treaty.
Line 5 carries up to 540,000 barrels per day from Alberta and Saskatchewan through two Great Lakes states and re-enters Canada at Sarnia, Ontario. It supplies more than 65 percent of Quebec’s crude oil needs and about 50 percent of the oil that Ontario refineries use to make gasoline and other fuels.
Supporters, including Canada’s federal government, call Line 5 a vital and indispensable source of energy for Ontario, Quebec and several Midwestern states. But environmental activists fear that a ship’s anchor strike or technical failure could cause a catastrophe in one of the area’s most important watersheds.
Enbridge said Thursday that it looks forward to a speedy resolution of the case in federal court.
With a report from The Canadian Press
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