Justice Department Says Whitmer Can't Revoke Enbridge's Easement

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 09/22/2025) The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has waded into Enbridge Energy's fight against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, agreeing with the Canadian oil company that Michigan is trying to override federal authority on interstate pipeline regulation.

In its Sept. 12 filing, the DOJ argues the Pipeline Safety Act preempts Whitmer's notice to the company to revoke and terminate Enbridge's easement to operate Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac.

Michigan's efforts, the DOJ argues, try to sidestep the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, which is to enforce uniform safety standards for hazardous liquid pipeline facilities. Doing so would create "an unworkable patchwork of state standards for interstate pipelines," the DOJ noted.

U.S. District Judge Robert J. Jonker is scheduled to hear arguments on motions to stay and for summary judgment on Nov. 12 in Grand Rapids.

In 2018, then Republican Gov. Rick Snyder entered an agreement with Enbridge to build a tunnel under the Straits to house a new segment of Line 5, but Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nessel, both Democrats who campaigned in 2018 on promises to shutter Line 5, filed separate lawsuits in 2020 to do just that, and Enbridge filed its own lawsuit in federal court against Whitmer and M. Scott Bowen, director of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

Whitmer dropped her suit, however, about one year later in support of Nessel's state action, which Enbridge tried to move to federal court, but it was eventually returned to the Ingham County Circuit Court.

In 2021, the Canadian government invoked a 1977 Transit Treaty, which prohibits certain authorities in both the U.S. and Canada from "taking actions that would impede the transmission of hydrocarbons through a covered pipeline," according to the DOJ's filing.

Negotiations are ongoing, according to the court filing.

Meanwhile, Nessel's state lawsuit awaits a circuit judge's decision and Enbridge has an appeal before the U.S. Supreme Court.

In June, Nessel told MIRS at the Mackinac Policy Conference that Enbridge has been "pretty successful" in waiting her out of office.

Supremes Grant Review Of Line 5 Tunnel Permit

The Michigan Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the tribal nations and environmental advocates' lawsuits challenging state regulators' approval of the Line 5 tunnel permits.

The opponents claim the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) failed to fully consider environmental impacts when it approved Enbridge Energy's permit in 2023.

In one order, the court wants to hear arguments on whether the Legislature required the MPSC to comply with the common-law public trust doctrine and, if not, whether that doctrine nonetheless requires compliance.

That doctrine says that the state holds certain natural resources, like the Great Lakes and submerged lands, in trust for the benefit of the public, and it mandates that the state has an obligation to protect those resources from private development.

The court also will consider whether the MPSC improperly excluded evidence about the history and risk of oil spills along the entire pipeline.

Enbridge wants to build a 3.6 mile tunnel that would house a segment of Line 5 pipeline.

For Love of Water, a Traverse City-based environmental nonprofit recently rebranded as Flow Water Advocates (FWA), initiated the legal challenge, arguing the MPSC failed to uphold its public trust obligations to protect Michigan's waters.

FWA Legal Director Carrie La Seur called the court's decision an "incredibly important step forward" to protecting the Great Lakes.

"The public trust doctrine is a fundamental principle of Michigan law that must be considered in decisions that affect our natural resources," she said. "We are eager to argue this case and ensure that our state's waters are protected for generations to come."