Canada invokes 1977 treaty to keep Enbridge Line 5 open

The Canadian government has requested diplomatic negotiations with the US to keep Enbridge Inc.’s Line 5 crude and propane pipelines open in Michigan. Canada filed the request in federal court in the Western District of Michigan, the latest step in an ongoing dispute following Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s November 2020 order that the 540,000-b/d system be shut due to concerns it could leak.

Enbridge and Michigan have been in mediation regarding the dispute. But this process has stalled, and Canada invoked a 1977 treaty in a request the court suspend its review of the order as a preemptive effort to keep the line open.

In her 2020 order, Whitmer said she was revoking Enbridge’s 1953 easement for the pipeline’s 4-mile crossing under the Straits of Mackinac. She gave the company until May 12, 2021, to shut the line down, but Enbridge has insisted she does not have the authority to force a closure and has kept it operating (OGJ Online, May 12, 2021).

Gov. Whitmer said she was “profoundly disappointed” by Canada’s decision and calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to reverse his country’s invocation of the treaty. Whitmer added that she “remains confident Michigan will prevail in its legal efforts with respect to Line 5” and that she “will continue to fight to get the pipelines out of the water.”

Line 5 runs from Superior, Wisc., to Sarnia, Ont.