Enbridge to run Line 5 despite shutdown deadline

Enbridge plans to continue operating its 540,000 b/d Line 5 crude and natural gas liquids (NGLs) pipeline system despite a deadline next week on a shutdown order from the state of Michigan.

The company is "in compliance with the easement and the law" and intends to continue to operate the line, chief executive Al Monaco said today while discussing first quarter earnings.

"The courts are reviewing the state's challenge to the pipeline, and that is going to take a while, so no decisions in our view are imminent," he said. "Affected parties, including surrounding states, industry and governments are supporting our position."

Line 5 stretches from Superior, Wisconsin, to Sarnia, Ontario, including a section under the Straits of Mackinac that separates Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. The state of Michigan last year moved to revoke Enbridge's 1953 easement to operate under the Straits, citing the danger of possible leaks.

Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer (D) and the state's Department of Natural Resources director Dan Eichinger issued a notice of revocation and termination of the easement and ordered Enbridge to shut the line by 12 May.

The state also filed a lawsuit in the Ingham County Circuit Court to back the move, citing "a grave and unreasonable risk to the state's residents and natural resources." Michigan alleges that Enbridge violated terms of the easement including one that limits spans of unsupported pipeline and another that mandates pipeline coatings.

Enbridge responded to Whitmer's revocation order saying it has no intention of shutting the Line 5 system based on the state's "unspecified allegations and its violation of federal law."

Enbridge is challenging the order and escalated the case to a federal court.

The US District Court for the Western District of Michigan ordered the parties to explore mediation which started with two sessions in April and another planned on 18 May, six days after the Michigan shutdown date.

Meanwhile, the Canadian government is waging a full-court lobbying effort to protect Line 5, with meetings at all levels of government.

Enbridge is separately seeking to build a $500mn tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac to house part of Line 5 to bolster protections from anchor strikes and other damage.

The tunnel is "the perfect solution to make the pipeline even safer," Enbridge said today.

By Eunice Bridges