Page 4 - NorthAmOil Week 19 2021

NorthAmOil COMMENTARY NorthAmOil

Line 5 fight escalates as

Michigan’s shutdown

deadline passes

Enbridge has kept its Line 5 pipeline operating beyond

the deadline that Michigan had set for a shutdown, in an
escalation of their dispute over the project’s fate

NORTH AMERICA ENBRIDGE’S fight with the State of Michigan and particularly the underwater section, into
over the fate of the Line 5 pipeline has escalated question.
WHAT: further, with the deadline set by Michigan Gov- Enbridge proposed in late 2018 to replace
Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline ernor Gretchen Whitmer for a shutdown pass- the underwater segment, and house it in a new
is still operating, despite ing this week. Whitmer had ordered that the underground tunnel below the straits – with the
an order from the 4.5-mile (7.2-km) twin pipeline section running project “virtually eliminating” the risk of a spill
Governor of Michigan to beneath the Straits of Mackinac, which connect or pipeline incident in the waterway. However,
shut it down by May 12. two of the Great Lakes, halt operations by May Whitmer has continued to oppose the pipeline
12. altogether.
WHY: However, Enbridge is arguing that Michi- In November 2020, she revoked the 1953
The pipeline company is gan does not have the authority to make such a easement that allows Enbridge to operate the
arguing that Michigan demand, and as of May 13, it continued to oper- underwater segment, alleging “persistent and
has overstepped its ate the pipeline, having said it would only halt incurable violations of the easement’s terms and
authority and says it will Line 5 if ordered to do so by a judge. conditions” by the pipeline company. The ease-
only halt operations on Whitmer is now expected to pursue retalia- ment’s revocation came with the order to shut
Line 5 if ordered to do so tory measures, and has notified Enbridge that the underwater segment of Line 5 by May 12.
by a judge. Michigan would seek to seize the profits from Enbridge has maintained all along that Mich-
Line 5’s operations beyond May 12. igan lacks the authority to order a shutdown,
WHAT NEXT: The dispute also threatens relations between because interstate pipelines are overseen by the
Ottawa has warned that the US and Canada, with Ottawa throwing its US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
the dispute threatens to support behind Enbridge and speaking more Administration (PHMSA). As shutting down
undermine US-Canada forcefully on the issue this week. the underwater segment would affect the entire
relations if the pipeline is 645-mile (1,038-km) pipeline, which carries
shut down. Ongoing dispute 540,000 barrels per day (bpd), the company has
The dispute has been going on for some time, also warned that the economic impact would be
with Whitmer calling the safety of Line 5, severe, not just in the US but also in Canada.

Michigan Governor
Gretchen Whitmer is
concerned over the
safety of the underwater
section of Line 5.

P4 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 19 13•May•2021