User:Davidjsmith97/Enbridge Line 5

Section to be added to Enbridge Line 5:

2020 Notice of Revocation and Termination of Easement
On November 13, 2020 Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources issued a notice of revocation and termination of the 1953 Easement that allows the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline to operate under the Straits of Mackinac. The notice of revocation of the easement gives Enbridge 180 days to terminate operation of the pipeline, meaning it would need to be closed by May 12, 2021. The 1953 Easement was initially issued by the Conservation Commission of the State of Michigan to the Lakehead Pipe Line Company, permitting the construction and ongoing operation of the twin sections of Line 5 that run underneath the Straits, by that company and all future owners of the pipeline that came after it including Enbridge. In the notice of termination, the State of Michigan's Department of Natural Resources states that as executive of the Department, Governor Whitmer has the authority to revoke the Easement on the grounds that the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline is using public lands in the Straits in contravention of the public trust doctrine. The public trust doctrine, as defined in the Notice of Revocation, is a legal principle that holds the State of Michigan responsible for maintaining stewardship over public lands for public use in the public interest, and limits the ways that the State can grant private entities use of public lands. The Notice of Revocation cites previous decisions from both the Michigan Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court to justify the State's argument that the Line 5 Pipeline does not advance the public interest in its use of public lands, and that the 1953 Easement does not satisfy requirements for the State to grant use of the land under the Straits and should therefore be revoked. The Notice of Revocation also argues that the Easement revocation is not precluded by the 2018 Third Agreement signed by former Governor Rick Snyder, which allows Enbridge to continue operating the section of Line 5 under the Straits while work is completed on a new replacement section that would be buried in a tunnel under the lake bed to mitigate risks of ecological damage from a future spill.

On January 12, 2021 Enbridge wrote back to Governor Whitmer to indicate they would not accept the Revocation Notice. The letter indicates that Enbridge assessed the State did not have the power to revoke the Easement. In the letter, Enbridge also affirmed their intent to continue operating the twin sections of Line 5 under the Straits until the replacement sections and tunnel project could be completed in accordance with the Third Agreement. This impasse between Enbridge and the State of Michigan generated a array of reaction from both political and business leaders in Ontario and Michigan over the future of Line 5, with some parties deeply opposed on whether shutting down the pipeline would be an acceptable outcome. As part of the ongoing civil suit before the Western District of Michigan's U.S. District Court on the matter of the easement revocation, District Court Judge Janet Neff ordered the two sides to propose a mediator to avoid pending litigation in both state and federal court cases on the Line 5 dispute. On March 25, 2021 the Ontario newspaper The Sarnia Observer reported that former United States District judge Gerald Rosen would serve as a mediator in the case at a mutually agreed mediation session on April 16, 2021.