Straits of Mackinac

LANSING, MI (AP)--   Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer is threatening to go after Enbridge's profits from the Line 5 oil pipeline if it isn't shut down. 

The Democratic governor issued the warning Tuesday in a letter to Enbridge, a Canadian oil transport company.

Whitmer ordered the company last November to close the line by May 12. She agrees with environmentalists and Native tribes that a section of Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac is vulnerable to a spill.

ST. IGNACE, MI--   American Transmission Company is removing electric cables from the Straits of Mackinac and putting new ones on the lakebed.

TRAVERSE CITY, MI (AP)--   Enbridge says it will defy Michigan's demand to shut down an oil pipeline that runs through a channel linking two of the Great Lakes. 

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in November moved to revoke a 1953 state easement that allowed Enbridge's Line 5 to be placed along the bottom of the Straits of Mackinac. The Democratic governor said the company had violated the terms and put Lake Michigan and Lake Huron at risk.

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.

MARQUETTE, MI--   On Friday Gov. Whitmer and Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Director Dan Eichinger announced that the state of Michigan would be revoking and terminating the 1953 easement which allowed Enbridge to operate the dual oil and gas Line 5 pipelines through the Straits of Mackinac. 

State Rep. Sara Cambensy (D-Marquette), a longtime advocate for the jobs and affordable energy costs Upper Peninsula residents enjoy as a result of the safe operation of these pipelines, sharply criticized the move for lacking any viable energy alternatives:

LANSING, MI--   On Friday Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Director Dan Eichinger notified Enbridge that the 1953 easement allowing it to operate dual pipelines in the Straits of Mackinac to transport petroleum and other products is being revoked and terminated. 

LANSING, MI--   The Michigan Public Service Commission will hold an electronic public hearing on Aug. 24 to take input on Enbridge Energy LP’s request for siting authority of its plans to relocate a segment of the Line 5 pipeline to a tunnel beneath the Straits of Mackinac. 

Members of the public wishing to make comments are urged to register in advance because of the high number of people expected to participate. 

LANSING, MI (MPRN)--   A Michigan judge ruled Wednesday to keep a temporary restraining order against Enbridge in place while allowing the company to resume operations through the western leg of the Line 5 pipeline.

The order stops short of granting Attorney General Dana Nessel’s request for an injunction against the company, instead extending and modifying the existing restraining order.

Enbridge will be allowed to restart the western leg of Line 5 in order to conduct safety testing. The eastern portion will remain shut down.

TRAVERSE CITY, MI (AP)--   A Michigan regulatory agency has denied Enbridge's request for quick approval of its plan to put a replacement oil pipeline beneath a Great Lakes channel.

The state Public Service Commission on Tuesday voted to conduct a full review of Enbridge's proposal. Enbridge wants to extend the pipeline through a tunnel that would be drilled beneath the Straits of Mackinac, connecting Lakes Huron and Michigan. It would replace dual Line 5 pipes that lie on the bottom of the straits.

LANSING, MI (AP)--   Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says she is demanding answers from Enbridge Energy on what caused the damage that led to the shutdown of an oil pipeline located under the Straits of Mackinac. 

Whitmer says Enbridge informed state officials on Thursday that an anchor support on one of the dual pipelines under the strait had been significantly damaged.

Whitmer said Friday the information has raised many questions on how the damage occurred and whether the straits are threatened as a result.