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(Reuters) – A U.S. judge on Wednesday blocked Michigan from enforcing a 2020 order to shut down Enbridge’s Line 5 oil pipeline running beneath a channel linking two of the Great Lakes, ruling that pipeline safety is a federal responsibility.
The decision comes five years after Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer revoked an easement allowing Canadian company Enbridge to operate a 6.4-km (4-mile) stretch of aging pipeline underneath the Straits of Mackinac, which connect Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, citing risks to the environment in the event of a spill.
Enbridge has been fighting the Michigan decision in court. The 72-year-old pipeline — which ships 540,000 barrels per day of crude and refined products from Superior, Wisconsin, to Sarnia, Ontario — has continued to operate throughout the dispute.
In his decision, U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker ruled that pipeline safety and protection of the Straits of Mackinac are the responsibility of the United States, and Michigan lacks the authority to interfere.
Enbridge faces other ongoing challenges related to Line 5. The company has proposed building a tunnel to house the aging pipeline, but faces opposition from environmentalists and Native American tribes.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a federal permitting agency, granted national energy emergency status to the Line 5 tunnel project in April, fast-tracking a key permitting process.
Reporting by Amanda Stephenson in Calgary and Ryan Patrick Jones and Bhargav Acharya in Toronto; Editing by Rod Nickel
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