[YES!] AG Nessel files lawsuit to shut down Enbridge's Line 5

Nessel is seeking to revoke and terminate the easement granted by the State in 1953.



By Krystle Holleman
Published: Nov. 13, 2020 at 12:40 PM EST|Updated: 2 hours ago

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - Friday the Michigan Attorney General’s office announced that AG Dana Nessel filed a lawsuit in Ingham County Circuit Court on behalf of Governor Gretchen Whitmer and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) seeking to revoke and terminate the easement granted by the state in 1953 that allows Enbridge to operate dual pipelines on the bottom of the Straits of Mackinac.

The new lawsuit brings claims in addition to the 2019 suit filed by Nessel which seeks to shut down Line 5 that remains pending before Judge James Jamo.

Earlier, Gov. Whitmer and DNR Director Dan Eichinger issued a Notice of Revocation and Termination of the 1953 Easement. The two cited Public Trust Doctrine and Enbridge’s repeated violations of the easement as grounds for the actions. The Notice concludes that Enbridge’s Line 5 is a “grave and unreasonable risk to the state’s residents and natural resources” and requires the pipeline to be shut down on May 12, 2021, 180 days from now.

“I commend Gov. Whitmer and Director Eichinger for their forceful actions today to address the grave threat posed by Enbridge’s unlawful operation of its pipelines in the Straits of Mackinac,” said Nessel. “With the steps they took today, Gov. Whitmer and Director Eichinger are making another clear statement that Line 5 poses a great risk to our state, and it must be removed from our public waterways. The arguments they are making to revoke the easement based on the public trust align with those outlined in my office’s pending lawsuit in Ingham County Circuit Court which seeks to shut down Line 5 to avoid an environmental catastrophe.”

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https://www.wilx.com/2020/11/13/ag-nessel-files-lawsuit-to-shut-down-enbridges-line-5/

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Not a moment too soon. That pipeline is an environmental disaster waiting to happen.