LANSING, MI (MPRN)-- Enbridge has filed suit to try to stop Governor Gretchen Whitmer from revoking the company’s easement to operate an oil and natural gas liquids pipeline through the Straits of Mackinac.
Earlier this month, the governor and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources informed Enbridge that its easement allowing the current pipeline is being revoked. The easement dates back to 1953.
But Enbridge is now asking a federal court to intervene.
An Enbridge official accuses state leaders of “playing politics with the energy needs” of its U.S. and Canadian customers.
A spokeswoman for Governor Gretchen Whitmer accuses Enbridge with this latest lawsuit of defying the people of Michigan and their right to protect the Great Lakes from a catastrophic oil spill.
The aging pipeline is controversial, with opponents fearing it poses a threat of a large oil spill in the Great Lakes.