FLOW: State of Michigan Takes a Strategic Step Today in the Race to Prevent a ‘Line 5’ Oil Spill

Editor’s Note: The following is a media release issued by FLOW on November 30, 2021; please contact Executive Director Liz Kirkwood at (570) 872-4956 or Liz@FLOWforWater.org or Legal Director Zach Welcker at (231) 620-7911 or Zach@FLOWforWater.org.

“The State of Michigan took a strategic step today in the race to prevent a catastrophic Line 5 oil spill in the Straits of Mackinac by concentrating its legal efforts in state, not federal, court,” said FLOW Executive Director Liz Kirkwood. “The state’s legal fight and the citizen-led movement to protect the Great Lakes, jobs, and a way of life continue full speed ahead.”

In response to Judge Neff’s November 16, 2021 decision to assume federal jurisdiction over the state’s 2020 case to shut down Line 5, the state has chosen to voluntarily dismiss that case and rely instead on Attorney General Dana Nessel’s 2019 lawsuit against Line 5-owner Enbridge in state circuit court in Ingham County.

This procedural maneuver will shift consideration of the State of Michigan’s legal efforts to shut down Line 5 back to a state-court forum where the matter belongs. The State of Michigan has paramount sovereignty over the Great Lakes that cannot be severed.

While the timing of a decision on the merits is still uncertain, dropping the 2020 case will almost certainly expedite resolution of the State Michigan’s claims because it avoids protracted litigation in federal court, which would be necessary to guarantee the State’s right to appeal Judge Neff’s legally deficient remand decision in the 2020 case.

“It’s vitally important to recognize that the action by Governor Whitmer and Department of Natural Resources Director Daniel Eichinger in November 2020 to revoke and terminate Line 5’s 1953 easement remains valid,” said FLOW Legal Director Zach Welcker. “While Enbridge continues to trespass in state waters and on state bottomlands, the State of Michigan can now move forward on Attorney General Nessel’s case filed on behalf of the citizens of Michigan in 2019 to shutdown the dual pipelines in the Straits.”

Background from FLOW:

• Key Context on Federal Lawsuit:
  • 16, 2021 — FLOW Deeply Disappointed in Court Decision Today Leaving State of Michigan’s Lawsuit to Shut Down ‘Line 5’ in Federal Court, Denying the State’s Request – FLOW
  • 25, 2020 — Enbridge’s Federal Lawsuit Attacks State Authority to Protect the Great Lakes from Line 5 – FLOW
• Recent Line 5 Analysis:
  • 3, 2021 — Line 5’s Clock is Ticking Ever Louder in the Great Lakes — FLOW
  • October 5, 2021 — Why Do Canadians Seem to Care So Little about Protecting the Great Lakes from Line 5? — FLOW
• State’s Line 5 Shutdown Deadline:
  • May 12, 2021 — Defying Today’s State Deadline to Shut Down Line 5, Enbridge Is Risking the Great Lakes and Privatizing the Public Trust – FLOW
• Reality Check:
  • June 23, 2021 — Remember When Line 5 Shut Down a Year Ago, and None of Enbridge’s Doomsaying Came True? – FLOW
  • June 2, 2021 — Fact Check: When Line 5 Shuts Down, Detroit Jets Will Still Fly and Union Refinery Jobs Will Still Exist – FLOW
• Whitmer’s Line 5 Shutdown Order & Reaction:
  • 25, 2020 — Enbridge’s Federal Lawsuit Attacks State Authority to Protect the Great Lakes from Line 5 – FLOW
  • 13, 2020 — FLOW Praises Gov. Whitmer for Upholding Public Trust Law on Line 5 by Revoking and Terminating Easement – FLOW

For more information, see FLOW’s Line 5 fact sheets and blogs:

• FLOW’s Program on Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac
• FLOW’s Line 5 Fact Sheets:
  • Updated Aug. 2, 2021 — Key Facts on Line 5 and the Proposed Oil Tunnel
  • Enbridge’s Line 5 in the Mackinac Straits Is Not Vital to Michigan’s Energy Economy
  • The Upper Peninsula Has Viable Options to Line 5 for Its Propane Supply and Economy
• FLOW’s Blog Coverage: Line 5 blogs providing news & analysis.