Supreme Court decision keeps Line 5 legal battle in Michigan courts

Attorney General Dana Nessel secures major legal victory for our Great Lakes 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Michigan League of Conservation Voters issued the following statement applauding the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in favor of Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s case, affirming that the legal battle over shutting down Enbridge Energy’s Line 5 oil pipeline belongs in Michigan, not federal court. The decision ensures that this critical case, which directly impacts Michigan’s waters, communities, and economy, will proceed in state court where it rightfully belongs. 

“The Supreme Court’s ruling is a major victory in the fight to protect our Great Lakes from a catastrophic oil spill from Line 5, which is a ticking time bomb in the heart of our most treasured natural resources,” said Bentley Johnson, federal government affairs director for the Michigan League of Conservation Voters. “Line 5 runs through the heart of our state and Great Lakes, representing the single greatest threat to our drinking water, economy, and way of life. We applaud Attorney General Nessel for standing firm and ensuring that decisions about Michigan’s future are made here at home, not in the halls of Washington.”

The more than 70-year-old pipeline carries oil and gas liquids through the Straits – one of the most ecologically sensitive ecosystems on Earth – posing an ongoing risk to tribal rights, Michigan’s environment, economy, and drinking water of tens of millions of people. A spill in the Straits would devastate more than 700 miles of Great Lakes coastline, local tourism and fishing industries, and the entire economies of Michigan communities.

The Court’s ruling rejects Enbridge’s attempt to move the case to federal court and revives Michigan’s case challenging the continued operation of the aging Line 5 pipeline beneath the Straits of Mackinac, after Enbridge failed to comply with Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s 2021 shutdown order.