Sarnia’s mayor calls for feds and province to get involved

Heather Wright/The Independent

Sarnia’s mayor is calling on the provincial and federal governments to step up after the Michigan Supreme Court pulled the plug on a building permit for a replacement project for Line 5.

Enbridge has been trying to find a way to improve the international pipeline which brings hydrocarbons to Sarnia through Michigan for a decade. The company won a major victory when the Michigan Public Service gave approval to a plan to replace two lines in the waters of the Straits of Mackinac with one pipeline encased in concrete.

But a number of First Nations and environmental groups in Michigan appealed the ruling. Friday, the Michigan Supreme Court said Michigan Public Service had not properly assessed the environmental impacts of the replacement project and whether it would extend the life of Line 5 causing environmental damage. It deemed the permit invalid.

Enbridge will now have to go back to Michigan Public Service to seek a new construction permit.

Environmentalists and First Nations in Michigan applauded the decision. “The Straits of Mackinac are not simply a route for an oil pipeline to be abused. They are sacred waters, the heart of creation for Anishinaabe people, and a source of life for millions. Some things are simply too sacred to be buried beneath a tunnel,” said Bay Mills Indian Community President Whitney Gravelle in a news release.

Line 5 is the main pipeline bringing a half million barrels of oil to Sarnia a day for refining, and sustains thousands jobs in Ontario, Quebec and Michigan, says Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley who called the Supreme Court decision “a stunning reversal” after Enbridge cleared a number of hurdles.

Bradley will be asking both the province and the federal government to see what they can do to ensure the replacement project moves forward.

Bradley says Canada and the province have taken a legal stand in the case before but he’s not sure exactly how the upper levels of government will be able to do to have an impact. “But I don’t think we can stand on the sidelines.”

Aside from the latest setback building the line, Michigan’s Governor, Elizabeth Witmer is still seeking to shut down Line 5 completely.

The same day the Michigan Supreme Court quashed Enbridge’s permit to build he four-mile long replacement pipeline, the US Federal government was in court arguing the move by Michigan to shutdown Line 5 completely would threaten an affordable supply of energy for Americans, threaten the country’s relationship with Canada and would be against federal interest in pipeline safety.