Michigan Gov orders shutdown of controversial Canadian pipeline

by Christian Spencer | May 11, 2021 | May. 11, 2021

Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

Story at a glance:

Michigan wants to shut down a Canadian pipeline that is connected to the state’s water.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ordered an energy company backed by the Canadian government to shut down its operations.
Canada’s natural resources minister Seamus O’Regan Jr. says shutting down of the pipeline is a bad idea.

Michigan is ordering a Canadian energy company to shut down its oil and gas pipeline as its final notice to comply, with the state’s governor saying one section specifically is too risky to keep operating and violates public trust.

Enbridge Energy is prepared to stand its ground and allow its pipeline, Line 5, to continue to operate, The Guardian reported.

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In November, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-Mich.) announced a plan to revoke permission to the company to operate its pipeline across narrow waterways known as the Straits of Mackinac in the state.

Whitemer’s deadline is May 12.

“These oil pipelines in the Straits of Mackinac are a ticking timebomb, and their continued presence violates the public trust and poses a grave threat to Michigan’s environment and economy,” Whitmer’s office said in a statement.

“In sum, please be advised that Enbridge’s continued operation of the Straits pipelines after May 12, 2021 is at its own risk,” Whitmer wrote to Vern Yu, president of Enbridge’s liquids pipelines division, Crain’s Detroit reported. “If the state prevails in the underlying litigation, Enbridge will face the prospect of having to disgorge to the State all profits it derives from its wrongful use of the easement lands following that date.”

Enbridge says the pipeline in the underwater section of Line 5 has never leaked and the company is working to further improve the pipeline’s safety, The Guardian reports. Company officials also say its pipelines are constructed with thicker material than most common materials, Bridge Michigan reported.

Out of the six months that have passed, Enbridge told Whitmer it would not comply in the past four months.

“We will not stop operating the pipeline unless we’re ordered by a court or our regulator, which we think is highly unlikely,” said Ryan Duffy, spokesman for the company.

Enbridge has moved oil and natural gas from western Canada for about 67 years through Michigan and the Great Lakes to refineries in the province of Ontario, and it is Canada’s biggest resource for gas and natural resources.

Canada’s natural resources minister Seamus O’Regan Jr. said shutting down of the pipeline was “non-negotiable,” saying thousands of jobs would be at risk, and it would require 800 tanker rail cars and 2,000 trucks each day to move oil.