Nik Rajkovic / news@whmi.com

Governor Gretchen Whitmer on Friday filed a response brief in Enbridge’s lawsuit over the Line 5 dual pipelines, which sit exposed on the lakebed in the Straits of Mackinac and transport oil through the Great Lakes.

Enbridge filed the lawsuit in 2020, after the Governor and the Director of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources revoked Enbridge’s easement.

According to Whitmer's office, the governor's brief challenged Enbridge’s claim that it can continue to pump oil through the Great Lakes regardless of what the State of Michigan says and reiterated that Line 5 constitutes an unparalleled risk to the public and the health of the Great Lakes.

“The Great Lakes power Michigan’s economy, supply drinking water to millions, and define our way of life,” said Governor Whitmer. “Protecting these natural treasures is a top priority. My brief continues my seven-year fight to stop Enbridge from pumping oil through the Great Lakes. Michigan must have a say in what runs through our waters. We must get Line 5 out of the water and work together to protect our precious Great Lakes for generations to come.”

The Great Lakes are home to 21% of the world’s fresh surface water. According to Whitmer's office, the lakes supply drinking water for more than 40 million people and support a $9.3 trillion regional economy, including hundreds of thousands of jobs in Michigan. 

The Line 5 pipeline is a ticking time bomb that could lead to an oil spill in the Great Lakes, which would put families and small businesses across the region at risk, according to the governor.

Whitmer's office noted an Enbridge pipeline ruptured in 2010, dumping one million gallons of oil into a tributary of the Kalamazoo River. 

In November of 2020, Governor Whitmer and Dan Eichinger, then-Director of the Department of Natural Resources, notified Enbridge that they were revoking and terminating the 1953 easement.

The easement had allowed Enbridge to transport petroleum and other products through the Straits of Mackinac.

Enbridge challenged the action in federal court, arguing that the State of Michigan, having once said “yes” in 1953 to running an oil pipeline through the Great Lakes, is forever bound by that decision and cannot even enforce the conditions of operation Enbridge agreed to.

Governor Whitmer refutes that position, stating that the Mackinac Straits belong to the People of Michigan, not to oil companies or the federal government.

The governor's brief is attached below.