Enbridge Line 5 pipeline shutdown fight

Overview

Updated May 31

Two 20-inch oil pipelines have been pumping crude under the Straits of Mackinac since 1953, and Michigan has spent seven years trying to shut them down. On April 22, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled that the company defending the pipelines, Canadian operator Enbridge, gets to fight that battle in federal court, not the state courthouse Michigan picked.

The decision was narrow on its face: a unanimous procedural ruling that district judges can sometimes excuse the 30-day deadline for moving a state-court case to federal court. But it removes a major obstacle in Enbridge's path, as federal courts have so far been more receptive than Michigan judges to the argument that federal pipeline-safety law preempts state shutdown orders. The pipeline keeps flowing while the merits get sorted out.

Why it matters

Line 5 carries 540,000 barrels a day of crude and propane through the Great Lakes. Whether states or federal courts decide its fate will set the template for every interstate pipeline fight to come.

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Key Indicators

Years pipeline has operated

Line 5 began carrying oil and natural gas liquids under the Straits of Mackinac in 1953.

540K

Barrels per day capacity

Daily volume of light crude, synthetic crude, and natural gas liquids moving through the line.

4.5 mi

Underwater crossing

Length of the dual pipeline span resting on the lakebed between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.

887

Days Enbridge waited to remove case

Time between service of Michigan's complaint and Enbridge's transfer to federal court—well past the 30-day statutory deadline.

1.1M

Gallons spilled since 1967

Documented Line 5 leaks across its 645-mile length, per Enbridge filings reviewed by federal regulators.

$500M+

Estimated tunnel project cost

Price tag for the proposed concrete tunnel that would encase the Straits crossing—originally projected for 2024 completion.

Voices

Curated perspectives — historical figures and your fellow readers.

Andrew Carnegie

(1835-1919) · Gilded Age · industry

Fictional AI pastiche — not real quote.

"Seven decades of steel beneath those waters, serving the nation faithfully, and yet Michigan would sooner trust a state courthouse than the very federal law that built this industrial civilization — the Supreme Court, with characteristic wisdom, has reminded ambitious governors that pipelines, like great enterprises, answer to a higher jurisdiction than local sentiment."

Ever wondered what historical figures would say about today's headlines?

People Involved

Dana Nessel

Michigan Attorney General

Lead plaintiff seeking pipeline shutdown

Gretchen Whitmer

Governor of Michigan

Executive driver of shutdown effort

Gregory E. Abel

President and CEO, Enbridge Inc.

Defending pipeline operations across multiple jurisdictions

Organizations Involved

Enbridge Inc.

Energy infrastructure company

Pipeline owner and defendant in Michigan suits

Calgary-headquartered pipeline operator that owns Line 5 and the broader Mainline system carrying western Canadian crude to U.S. and eastern Canadian refineries.

Bay Mills Indian Community

Federally recognized tribe

Treaty-rights intervenor opposing pipeline and tunnel

Anishinaabe tribal nation in Michigan's Upper Peninsula that holds 1836 treaty fishing rights in the Straits of Mackinac.

Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa

Federally recognized tribe

Won federal order requiring Wisconsin segment relocation

Wisconsin tribe whose reservation Line 5 crosses without valid easements after 2013 expirations.

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

Federal appellate court

Reversed by Supreme Court on April 22, 2026

Federal appeals court covering Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee that ruled in 2024 that the 30-day removal deadline cannot be excused.

Timeline

January 1953 April 2026

12 events Latest: April 22nd, 2026 · 5 months ago Showing 8 of 12

Tap a bar to jump to that date

April 2026
Supreme Court rules Nessel case stays in federal court
Latest Legal

Justices reverse the Sixth Circuit, holding that district courts may excuse the 30-day removal deadline in narrow circumstances. Michigan's shutdown suit will be heard in federal court.
April 22nd, 2026
March 2026
Supreme Court denies Whitmer's sovereign immunity appeal
Legal

Justices decline to hear Michigan's claim that the governor cannot be sued in federal court over the easement revocation, leaving Enbridge's federal suit against her intact.
March 31st, 2026
February 2026
Supreme Court hears oral arguments
Legal

Justices question both sides on whether equitable tolling applies to the federal removal statute. Argument leaves outcome unclear to most observers.
February 24th, 2026
June 2024
Sixth Circuit sends Nessel case back to state court
Legal

Federal appeals court rules the 30-day removal deadline is not subject to equitable exceptions, ordering the case returned to Michigan state court.
June 17th, 2024
June 2023
Bad River Band wins Wisconsin trespass ruling
Legal

Federal judge orders Enbridge to pay $5.15 million in damages and reroute Line 5 off Wisconsin tribal land by June 2026, creating an independent shutdown clock.
June 16th, 2023
December 2021
Enbridge removes Nessel's case to federal court
Legal

887 days after being served, Enbridge moves the state-court shutdown suit to federal district court, citing changed circumstances. The deadline under federal law was 30 days.
December 15th, 2021
November 2020
Enbridge sues Michigan in federal court
Legal

Company files in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, arguing federal pipeline safety law preempts the state easement revocation.
November 24th, 2020
Whitmer revokes 1953 easement
Executive Action

Governor orders Line 5 shut by May 2021, citing what she calls incurable easement violations and unacceptable spill risk to the Great Lakes.
November 13th, 2020
June 2019
Nessel files state-court suit to shut down Line 5
Legal

Michigan attorney general sues Enbridge in Ingham County Circuit Court, citing public trust doctrine and easement violations as grounds for shutdown.
June 27th, 2019
January 2019
Whitmer and Nessel take office
Political

Both Democrats took office having campaigned on shutting Line 5, immediately reopening questions about the tunnel deal and the underlying easement.
January 1st, 2019
October 2018
Snyder administration approves Straits tunnel deal
Agreement

Outgoing Republican Governor Rick Snyder signs an agreement with Enbridge to build a concrete tunnel beneath the Straits to encase the pipeline, projected at $500 million with a 2024 completion date.
October 3rd, 2018
January 1953
Line 5 enters service under Michigan easement
Construction

Enbridge's predecessor company completes the 645-mile pipeline, including twin 20-inch pipes resting on the Straits of Mackinac lakebed. The state easement requires specific safety conditions on coating, supports, and curvature.
January 1st, 1953

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Scenarios

Federal court rules pipeline-safety law preempts Michigan shutdown

Likely

Discussed by: U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Washington Legal Foundation, energy-law analysts at Bloomberg Law

With the case now firmly in federal court, Enbridge presses the same argument that has worked in earlier rulings: the federal Pipeline Safety Act gives the Department of Transportation exclusive authority over interstate pipeline operation, leaving no room for state shutdown orders. A federal judge sided with Enbridge on this theory in late 2025 in a related ruling. If that reasoning holds for both Nessel's case and the Whitmer easement-revocation case, Michigan loses its primary legal lever and Line 5 keeps operating indefinitely under federal oversight.

Tunnel project completes, lakebed pipelines retired

Possible

Discussed by: Enbridge, Michigan Public Service Commission, building trades unions

Enbridge's proposed concrete tunnel beneath the Straits clears its remaining state and federal permits and breaks ground in 2027, with the new pipeline operational by 2030. The original twin pipes on the lakebed are decommissioned. This outcome ends the most acute spill-risk arguments while preserving the line itself, and may give Michigan political cover to drop active litigation. Bay Mills and other tribes have signaled they would still oppose the tunnel on treaty grounds.

Wisconsin reroute deadline forces shutdown of full line

Uncertain

Discussed by: Bad River Band, Earthjustice, Midwest Environmental Advocates

The June 2026 deadline from Judge Conley's 2023 ruling arrives before Enbridge has built the 41-mile reroute around the Bad River reservation. If the Army Corps permit is blocked or further delayed by tribal litigation, the Wisconsin segment shuts down—and because Line 5 is a single throughput, that shuts down the Michigan crossing too, regardless of how Michigan's own cases turn out.

Negotiated settlement with phased shutdown

Unlikely

Discussed by: Bridge Michigan, regional energy analysts, former state officials

After years of parallel litigation that neither side is decisively winning, Michigan and Enbridge reach a negotiated framework: continued operation for a defined period (typically 5-10 years) tied to specific tunnel construction milestones, with hard shutdown dates if benchmarks slip. Tribal nations would need to be at the table for any settlement to hold up against treaty challenges.

Historical Context

3 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

September 2008 - June 2021

Keystone XL pipeline cancellation (2008-2021)

TC Energy's proposed 1,179-mile pipeline to carry Alberta tar sands crude to Nebraska faced 12 years of permitting fights, federal lawsuits, and tribal opposition. President Obama denied the cross-border presidential permit in 2015; President Trump reissued it in 2017; President Biden revoked it on his first day in office in 2021. TC Energy abandoned the project five months later.

Then

The project died after $9 billion in committed investment, with TC Energy writing off the loss.

Now

Showed that even fully-permitted interstate pipelines can be killed by sustained political pressure if a key federal authority swings against the project. But Keystone XL was a new pipeline still seeking approval—Line 5 already exists and operates, which is a much harder thing to undo.

Why this matters now

Keystone XL is the cautionary tale for Enbridge: federal authority can flip a project off as easily as on. But it also shows why Enbridge fights so hard for federal jurisdiction—the alternative, scattered state and tribal vetoes, is harder to manage politically than a single federal decision.

July 2010

Kalamazoo River oil spill (2010)

Enbridge's Line 6B pipeline ruptured near Marshall, Michigan, releasing more than 1 million gallons of diluted bitumen crude into Talmadge Creek and the Kalamazoo River. Operators in the control room initially misread alarms and restarted the line twice during the spill. Cleanup took five years and cost over $1.2 billion.

Then

Largest inland oil spill in U.S. history at the time. The National Transportation Safety Board issued a scathing report criticizing Enbridge's culture as one of 'pervasive organizational failures.'

Now

Became the foundational evidence cited in every subsequent challenge to Enbridge pipelines, including Line 5. Drove federal pipeline safety reforms but also entrenched the company's status as the case study for catastrophic pipeline failure.

Why this matters now

Every Line 5 shutdown argument draws on Kalamazoo as proof that Enbridge's spill-response capability cannot match the speed of a Straits of Mackinac rupture. The 2010 event is why Michigan officials treat the underwater crossing as a question of when, not if.

April 2016 - February 2017

Dakota Access Pipeline and Standing Rock (2016-2017)

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and thousands of allied activists camped at the Cannonball River in North Dakota to block construction of the 1,172-mile Dakota Access Pipeline beneath Lake Oahe, the tribe's water source. The Obama administration paused the federal easement in December 2016; the Trump administration reversed course weeks later and the pipeline began operating in June 2017.

Then

Pipeline went into service over tribal objections after federal authority shifted between administrations. Standing Rock's legal challenges continued in federal court for years afterward.

Now

Established the modern template for tribal-rights pipeline opposition and showed how federal preemption can override both state and tribal objections. Also demonstrated how project economics can survive years of delay if a federal forum is willing to keep the line open.

Why this matters now

Like Line 5, Dakota Access turned on whether federal jurisdiction would override local and tribal sovereignty claims. Both fights show that for interstate pipelines, the choice of courtroom often determines the outcome before the merits are even argued.