LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer threatened Tuesday to go after Enbridge’s profits from a Great Lakes oil pipeline if the company defies her order to shut it down.
The Democratic governor issued the warning in a letter to the Canadian energy transport company on the eve of a state-imposed deadline to halt operation of Line 5, which moves oil through northern Wisconsin and Michigan to refineries in Ontario. Enbridge repeated its intention to defy Whitmer’s demand.
A nearly 4-mile-long (6.4-kilometer-long) section of Line 5 divides into two pipes that cross the bottom of the Straits of Mackinac, which connects Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.
Whitmer, backed by environmentalists and native tribes, says the segment is vulnerable to a catastrophic spill in the cold, swirling channel. She revoked an easement last November that Michigan had granted in 1953 for the pipes to occupy the lake bottom and ordered them closed by May 12.
Enbridge insists the segment is in good condition and says its loss would cause economic damage in both countries, a position shared by the Canadian government, which filed a legal brief Tuesday in support of the company.
In her letter to Vern Yu, Enbridge’s executive vice president for liquids pipelines, Whitmer said continued operation of the line after Wednesday “constitutes an intentional trespass” and that the company would do so “at its own risk.”
“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,” Whitmer said.
Enbridge argues that the state has no authority to order the shutdown because the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration oversees interstate pipelines.
“We will not stop operating the pipeline unless we are ordered by a court or our regulator, which we view as highly unlikely,” spokesman Ryan Duffy said. “Line 5 is operating safely, reliably and is in compliance with the law.”
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel filed a lawsuit last fall in support of Whitmer’s order, while Enbridge countersued in federal court and wants the matter decided there. A federal judge is considering which court should have jurisdiction.
Nessel’s office said it will continue seeking a shutdown order.
“We are reviewing other remedies that may be available to the state if Enbridge continues to operate the pipelines after the deadline,” spokeswoman Lynsey Mukomel said.
Although U.S. District Judge Janet Neff has ordered mediation, the latest developments suggested the two sides remained deeply entrenched.
Canada’s brief, filed in federal court, urged further efforts to reach a settlement.
“Line 5 is essential to our energy security,” said Seamus O’Regan Jr., minister of natural resources. “It heats both Canadian and American homes. It supports both Canadian and American jobs.”
Advocacy groups stepped up the pressure.
In Lansing, labor organizers spread 1,200 hard hats across the grounds of the Michigan Capitol, saying they represented jobs that would be lost without the pipeline. Among them were members of a union representing workers at a refinery in Toledo, Ohio.
“If Line 5 were to shut down, we don’t have alternatives to get our crude oil to the refinery because of where we are and the infrastructure that we have,” said Justin Donley, president of Local 912. “So our refinery would likely shut down.”
The Bay Mills Indian Community, which has treaty-recognized fishing rights in the Straits of Mackinac, approved a resolution Monday that “banishes” the underwater pipelines from its territory.
“Enbridge’s continued harm to our treaty rights, our environment, our history, our citizens, and our culture, is a prime example of how banishment should be used,” said Whitney Gravelle, president of the tribe’s Executive Council. “Banishment is a permanent and final action that is used to protect all that we hold dear.”
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Flesher reported from Traverse City, Michigan. AP correspondent Rob Gillies contributed from Toronto.
© 2021 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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gretch the wretch. Thinks she is queen of the world. Throw this stinking democrap out.
I say fine. CUT OFF ALL GAS and oil pipelines going into the entire state.. AND SEE HOW LONG IT IS before everything shuts the hell down, from lack of power!
You can not revoke an easement unilaterally. Whitmer is playing to her usual base of outcasts. Just as with the Keystone pipeline she and the Democrats have no use for the workers that will lose their jobs, and the high prices that will follow. Instead of letting the market dictate what the people want, she wants to decide that for them. That is not Capitalism, but who said the Democrats believed in Capitalism.
Don’t I have a great Dictator in my state of Michigan, good old Gretchen. The Democrats are doing everything they can to strangle oil and natural gas production. I hope everyone has warm sleeping bags when our houses are freezing in the winter. Get your hunting rifles ready, so every one can hunt for food. The Democrats, like Whitmer are destroying our economy. Here comes communist China and Venezuela.
Just Phase II of the Democrat Party treasonous constructed attack on America energy. Would not be surprised to see a break caused in the pipelines which of course will get blamed on Russian hackers, with Democrat party fingerpints left all over the scene. Just how rich can these paid political operatives get for betraying their nation? Follow the money, problably back to China. Nixon never should have gone there and America would all still be safe and prosperous.
This Governor’s actions against the pipeline makes one think that perhaps the Russians did not hack the Colonial Pipeline and makes one think that the Democrat Socialist’s Antifa section may be involved.
Somebody ask the Gov why she is taking this stance at this time.
SINCE IT is the traitors in the DOJ/FBI, who are claiming those pipeline hacks “GOT traced to that russian gang”, WITH THE Sheer amount of backstabbing of we the people, BOTH groups have done, WHY SHOULD ANYONE of us believe a single word they say??!
This will become the third pipe line affected since Biden came into office. See a pattern?
YES, we do.
You’d have to be Deaf, blind and stupid, to NOT SEE A PATTERN.
There are way to many psychopath’s in our government, Cheney went down today, so one down, so many more to go.
Just let the Canadians close the Ambassador Bridge and the tunnel under the Detroit River as a boycot and see what happens. This should create an international incident and put the governor in a bad position but Joe Biden will come along and break the agreement between the United states and Canada to mollify the loud minority of the loony left!
IN THAT CASE, i say GO FOR IT canada.
You know, she is starting to LOOK like a witch. It is time for individuals and companies to start defying orders left and right—drown them all in defiance. If words and reasoning won’t get through to them, then, by God, it is time to draw the swords and start taking action. And don’t quit until they submit.
Pity she’s not like witches in the disney films, where we can just THROW water on and melt them.
Yes I thought so – very menacing and evil looking.
“starting”?
Whitmer is incompetent enough and disregards law enough to run for president.
Ok, so just stop all fossil fuel products including heating oil, electricity & gasoline that are dependent on coal, petroleum or natural gas from being transported or available in MI & see how the citizens react.
And, unless the Indians are still living in tents, traveling on horses & using camp fires for heat, light & cooking, then I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t like living without the comfort & convenience of the modern world that reliable & affordable coal, oil & natural gas make possible.
Not to mention all the other everyday products we take for granted that require petroleum.
AND NOT just for those living there, but ALL POLITICIANS from that state.. SO no AIR TRAVEL!
Can’t believe what I just read – is this still America or has everyone started waving a white flag?? Can we assume Whitmer has her own private source of heat for MI winters so this action has no effect on her lifestyle?