Line 5 Pipeline Dispute: Judge Rules in Favour of Enbridge Inc. 

A judge in Michigan decided on Thursday that the international fight over the Line 5 cross-border oil and gas pipeline should be addressed in federal court, striking a major setback to the efforts of Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer to shut down the project.

Judge Janet Neff of the District Court has sided with Enbridge Inc. for the second time in nine months, sending the case to federal court as the company requested.

“The department strongly disagrees with the judge’s mistaken characterization of both the law and the attorney general’s approach to this and related cases,” said Amber McCann, Michigan general attorney’s director of communications.

The office is reviewing the decision and “considering next steps to pursue in the litigation.”

Democrat Gretchen Whitmer who relies heavily on environmental activist groups for votes first ordered Line 5 to be turned off in November of 2020.

She mentioned the potential ecological disaster in the Straits of Mackinac, a particularly sensitive biological waterway between Lakes Michigan and Huron, where the pipeline is located.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel tried very hard to stop Enbridge’s efforts to get the case moved from the circuit court to the federal level, where it may affect national security, cross-border commerce, and international relations.

Nessel expected to defeat Enbridge’s jurisdictional argument by pointing out that, under federal law, cases can only be removed to federal jurisdiction within 30 days of a complaint being filed.

However, Judge Janet Neff was unconvinced, pointing to a previous decision she made in favour of Enbridge back in 2021.

“It would be an absurd result for the court to remand the present case and sanction a forum battle,” Neff wrote.

“The 30-day rule in the removal statute is intended to assist in the equitable administration of justice and prevent gamesmanship over federal jurisdiction, but here, it is clear to the court that (the) plaintiff is the one engaging in gamesmanship.”

According to a statement released by Enbridge on Thursday, the judge’s decision was “consistent with the court’s November 2021 ruling that the state’s prior suit against Line 5 belonged in federal court.

The statement continues, saying that shutting off Line 5 would “defy an international treaty with Canada that has been in place since 1977.”

“Enbridge looks forward to a prompt resolution of this case in federal court.”

Original source material for this article taken from here