Michigan Attorney General Files Lawsuit to Shut Down Great Lakes Oil Pipeline
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel today filed a lawsuit asking a court to shut down an aging oil pipeline that partly runs through the Great Lakes.
At the same time, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's administration directed the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to issue an opinion on whether the pipeline's owner, Canadian oil giant Enbridge, is in compliance with a 1953 easement that allows it to operate the line.
That opinion could ultimately strengthen Nessel's case. The governor and attorney general's steps are the latest in what's shaping up to be a multifront effort to shut down the current pipeline, called Line 5, and derail Enbridge's plans for a replacement line.
The 66-year-old natural gas and oil pipeline runs through a 4.4-mile section of the Straits of Mackinac between the Upper and Lower peninsulas. Stretches of the line, which pumps oil from Wisconsin to Sarnia, Ontario, have already spilled 1.1 million gallons of oil, though none of that in the lakes. Environmentalists point out that about 90 percent of the oil pumped through the line lands in Ontario, though Michigan assumes all the environmental risk.
Read more: https://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2019/06/27/michigan-attorney-general-files-lawsuit-to-shut-down-great-lakes-oil-pipeline
