Enbridge Energy and the State of Michigan, which have been locked in a years-long legal battle over the future of an oil-and-natural gas liquids pipeline that runs through an environmentally sensitive corner of the Great Lakes, have agreed to let federal cases play out ahead of cases in state courts.
One of those disputes involves the question of whether the case belongs in Michigan or federal courts. That case will be argued next month before the U.S. Supreme Court. A separate case on the state’s standing to sue Enbridge over Line 5 is pending before the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The state would like the case to be settled in Michigan courtrooms while Enbridge thinks its prospects are better in federal courts. But, in a deal quietly reached this week, the two sides stipulated the state cases would be sidelined until after the federal appeals court reaches a decision.
Enbridge spokesperson Ryan Duffy said a decision last month from a federal judge ensures Line 5 can keep moving oil and natural gas liquids while the case plays out. Enbridge argues safety of the international pipeline, which runs from Wisconsin to Ontario, is regulated solely by the federal government.
“The Court’s decision safeguards both the United States and Canada from the significant energy disruptions that would have resulted from a closure,” Duffy said in an email to Michigan Public Radio.
The state argues that it has a legal interest in the disputed portion of Line 5, which is located in the Straits of Mackinac -- a more than four mile stretch of water that separates the Upper and Lower Peninsulas. The state wants Line 5 shut down. moved from the environmentally sensitive corridor that connects Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. Enbridge wants to encase the pipeline within a tunnel buried beneath the straits.
Enbridge is among Michigan Public's corporate sponsors.
