Enbridge Says Michigan Lacks Authority to Terminate or Revoke Line 5 Oil Pipe Easement

Enbridge Inc. served notice Tuesday that Canadian oil would continue to flow across the Straits of Mackinac regardless of an order by Michigan’s executive branch to shut down the 540,000 b/d Line 5 in mid-May. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nessel have no power to enforce their notice issued in November that the pipeline be evicted as of May by erasing the Straits easement that enabled its construction 67 years ago, said the Calgary-based firm. “The state lacks the authority to terminate or revoke the 1953 easement,” stated a letter from Enbridge Vice President Vern Yu to Whitmer and Daniel Eichinger, executive division director of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Enbridge in November vowed “a thorough response through the legal process” against the lawsuit by the Michigan executive branch to revoke the state easement for its Line 5 oil conduit. Yu wrote that terminating or revoking the easement was contrary to the U.S. Pipeline Safety Act and its assignment of policing long-distance conduits to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). Oil flows are to continue while an Enbridge lawsuit seeks to uphold its legal position, and as the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) reviews […]

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