The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled in favor of Michigan, stating that the state’s legal action to close a segment of an old pipeline beneath a channel in the Great Lakes will remain in state court. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, on behalf of a unanimous court, mentioned that Enbridge, a company based in Calgary, took too long to attempt to transfer the case to federal court.
The dispute revolves around a pipeline that has transported crude oil and natural gas liquids between Superior, Wisconsin, and Sarnia, Ontario, since 1953. Michigan’s Attorney General, Dana Nessel, initiated the lawsuit in state court in June 2019 to invalidate the easement permitting Enbridge to operate a 6.4-kilometer pipeline section under the Straits of Mackinac, connecting Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.
In June 2020, Nessel, a Democrat, obtained a restraining order from Judge James Jamo of Ingham County, halting pipeline operations. Despite this, Enbridge resumed operations after meeting safety standards. In 2021, Enbridge moved the case to federal court, arguing its impact on U.S. and Canadian trade. However, a three-judge panel from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals returned the case to Jamo in June 2024, citing the company’s failure to meet a 30-day jurisdiction change deadline.
The disputed pipeline, known as Line 5, has raised concerns about a potential catastrophic spill since 2017. Enbridge engineers disclosed knowledge of gaps in the protective coating of the section beneath the straits in 2014. In 2018, a boat anchor caused damage, heightening spill concerns.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s Michigan Department of Natural Resources revoked Line 5’s straits easement in 2020, leading to Enbridge filing a federal lawsuit challenging the revocation. The company is pursuing permits to encase the pipeline section in a protective tunnel. Although the Michigan Public Service Commission issued permits in 2023, Enbridge still requires approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy.
The pipeline is also subject to a legal battle in Wisconsin, where a federal judge in Madison instructed Enbridge to shut down a part of Line 5 crossing the Bad River Band of Lake Superior’s reservation within three years. Enbridge has proposed rerouting the pipeline outside the reservation and has appealed the shutdown order to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.