DETROIT – A federal appellate panel denied Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s latest effort to dismiss a lawsuit from Enbridge Energy over the Line 5 oil pipeline.
The Sixth Circuit upheld that Enbridge’s lawsuit, seeking the pipeline’s continued operation, fits an exception to sovereign immunity as it involves alleged violations of federal law.
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The Canadian energy company is engaged in multiple lawsuits concerning Line 5, its pipeline under the Straits of Mackinac.
Related: Federal report warns of environmental risks from Line 5 tunnel project in Straits of Mackinac
The court denied her request for a full rehearing, marking the third time her argument for immunity has been struck down. This decision means the legal fight over Line 5’s future will continue, and Whitmer’s next stop may be the U.S. Supreme Court.
Line 5 is the oil pipeline owned by Canadian company Enbridge Energy, it carries crude oil from Northwest Wisconsin, through Michigan, to Sarnia, in Ontario, Canada.
Nessel has been fighting for the shutdown of Line 5 since she took office in 2019. The pipeline is 72 years old, and crosses from the Upper Penninsula to the Lower Penninsula through the Mackinac Straits. Native Americans, environmentalists and others say a pipeline rupture in the Great Lakes would be catastrophic.
Related: Does Line 5 put Michigan’s Great Lakes at risk for a ‘catastrophic’ oil spill?
Nessel has argued that Line 5 is a Michigan issue. Enbridge says it’s a federal issue, and the company had Nessel v. Enbridge Energy moved to federal court. Nessel appealed that decision and the Sixth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals sided with Nessel -- who believes she has a stronger case here in Michigan, where she says Enbridge is in violation of state environmental law.