Enbridge’s controversial Line 5 that transports nearly 23 million gallons of oil per day through the Straits of Mackinac is at the center of a court dispute after the company reported damage to a pipeline support on June 18.
Something dragging along the bottom of the water that separates Michigan’s Upper and Lower peninsulas struck the pipeline support, but what it was remains unknown. That’s one of the mysteries Michigan officials want to solve before huge amounts oil resume traveling beneath Lake Huron and Lake Michigan.
Michigan officials dispute the Canadian company’s authority to restart operations without providing further information or allowing Michigan to conduct its own safety analysis.
“In a June 19 letter, (Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer) asked Enbridge to provide the state with all of the information in its possession about the damage, including pictures, video, and engineering reports,” Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office said in a June 22 press release. “The governor requested that all digital information be provided within 24 hours of her request.
“Enbridge not only failed to provide the requested information but on June 20, 2020, the company unilaterally reactivated the west leg of the pipeline without even providing the state with an opportunity to first discuss it.”
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Photos provided by Enbridge show pipeline supports, referred to as “anchors,” bent and shifted beneath the water. Enbridge officials contend the authority to operate lies with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, a federal agency that regulates and monitors oil pipeline operators, not Michigan. The east leg of the pipeline remains closed while the company performs further safety analysis requested by federal overseers.
Attorneys for Enbridge in court filings said the federal agency issued “no objection” when they proposed resuming flow of the west leg.
AG Nessel filed a motion in Ingham County Circuit Court asking for an injunction to halt operation of the pipeline, which Ingham County Circuit Court Judge James Jamo granted on June 25. Jamo ordered the pipeline be shut down entirely until he could conduct a hearing on the arguments. That hearing, which included nearly four and a half hours of arguments, occurred Tuesday, June 30.
Attorneys for Enbridge referred to the damage as “minor” and a “scrape” that didn’t impact the integrity of the pipeline. Closure of the pipelines is causing the company to lose nearly $1.8 million a day, the company said in briefs filed since the injunction.
Enbridge attorney William T. Hassler of the Steptoe law firm based in Washington D.C said he took issue with Michigan’s argument that the line hasn’t been proven safe when it hasn’t put forth any evidence supporting the contrary.
“If the state had proved the line was not safe, that’s one thing,” Hassler said, but “skepticism” on Michigan’s part is “not evidence.”
Jamo said he was taking the arguments under advisement and plans to issue a written ruling, taking into account the “urgency” of the situation.
Enbridge also operates a separate section of Michigan pipeline that failed 2010 spilling 800,000 gallons of oil into the Talmadge Creek and Kalamazoo River.
An already wary relationship with the corporation and state officials heightened in June of 2019 when AG Nessel filed a lawsuit against Enbridge in Ingham County attempting to shut down the pipeline altogether. Enbridge, meanwhile, is attempting to build a $500 million tunnel beneath the Great Lakes that it says would protect the waterways.
More on MLive:
Michigan requests Line 5 shutdown
Enbridge finds protective coating on Line 5 pipeline worn away, leaving metal exposed
Michigan seeks more information about Line 5 tunnel alternatives
Michigan requests Enbridge Line 5 documents going back to 1953
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Enbridge Line 5 remains shut down pending Michigan judge’s ruling - MLive.com
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