GRAND RAPIDS, MI — A federal judge on Wednesday blocked Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s effort to shut down a key oil pipeline beneath the Straits of Mackinac, ruling that only the federal government has authority to regulate interstate pipeline safety.
U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker ruled that Whitmer’s 2020 order revoking an easement for Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline violates federal law. The 72-year-old pipeline runs beneath the channel linking Lake Michigan and Lake Huron and carries crude oil between Superior, Wisconsin, and Sarnia, Ontario. Whitmer moved to shut it down over concerns that a rupture could cause catastrophic environmental damage to the Great Lakes.
Jonker concluded that Congress explicitly barred states from regulating interstate pipeline safety under the Pipeline Safety Act of 1992. He wrote that revoking the easement would effectively force Line 5 to close, an action reserved exclusively for federal regulators. The judge also noted that both the United States and Canada agree Michigan’s attempt to shut down the pipeline interferes with national energy policy and cross-border trade.
While acknowledging that a spill in the Great Lakes would be an environmental disaster for Michigan, Jonker said federal law clearly preempts state authority in this area. Enbridge welcomed the ruling, stating that Line 5 remains safe and that the decision avoids major energy disruptions in both countries.
The ruling does not end the broader legal fight. Additional lawsuits involving Line 5 are pending in Michigan, Wisconsin, and federal courts, including challenges from environmental groups and Native American tribes opposing Enbridge’s plans to build a protective tunnel or reroute sections of the pipeline.
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