The US Department of Justice (DOJ) on Sept. 19 issued a statement supporting Enbridge Inc.’s assertion that the State of Michigan had overstepped its authority in attempting to revoke the easement for Enbridge’s 540,000-b/d Line 5 pipeline across the bottom of the Straits of Mackinac. Michigan issued its notice terminating Enbridge’s easement for Line 5 in 2020.
"We will continue to protect and defend Line 5's…operations consistent with federal law, interstate commerce, and international treaty agreements, all of which recognize the critical role Line 5 plays in providing for the region's energy needs and its economic strength," Enbridge spokesman Michael Barnes said in an emailed statement to the Detroit Free Press.
“The federal government already comprehensively regulates pipeline safety, but Michigan is trying to usurp the Department of Transportation’s statutory authority,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of ENRD. “President Trump has made clear that the United States will not tolerate state overreach that interferes with American energy dominance.”
The Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) earlier this year fast-tracked its review of a key permit to allow Enbridge to build a protective tunnel around the aging Line 5. ACE granted Enbridge’s emergency permit request under terms of Pres. Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 “national energy emergency” declaration designed to expedite domestic fossil fuel production and infrastructure.
