US supreme court sides with Michigan in its fight to shut down ageing pipeline
Summary
The US Supreme Court decided that Michigan’s lawsuit to shut down part of an old oil pipeline will stay in state court. The case involves a section of Line 5, a pipeline under the Great Lakes, and centers on safety and environmental concerns.Key Facts
- The Supreme Court ruled Michigan’s case against Enbridge’s pipeline must remain in state court.
- Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that Enbridge tried too late to move the case to federal court.
- Line 5 is a 4.5-mile pipeline section under the Straits of Mackinac, linking Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.
- Michigan’s Attorney General sued to cancel the easement allowing the pipeline’s operation in 2019.
- A judge had temporarily stopped the pipeline in 2020 but allowed it to run under strict safety conditions.
- Enbridge claims federal officials, not the state, control pipeline safety and challenges Michigan’s attempts to shut it down.
- Michigan revoked the pipeline’s easement in 2020, but a federal judge blocked this move; the state is appealing.
- Enbridge plans to build a protective tunnel for the pipeline; environmental groups and tribes oppose this and have filed lawsuits.
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