U.S. Supreme Court Declines to Hear Whitmer Challenge to Enbridge Line 5

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear Michigan’s challenge to Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline, allowing the long-running legal dispute to proceed in lower courts.

(P&GJ) — The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear Michigan’s appeal in its legal dispute with Enbridge over the Line 5 pipeline, allowing the case to continue in lower courts.

The case, Whitmer v. Enbridge Energy, centers on whether the state can assert sovereign immunity in a lawsuit brought by Enbridge related to its operation of Line 5 through the Straits of Mackinac.

Michigan had asked the Court to review a lower court ruling that allowed Enbridge’s lawsuit against state officials to proceed in federal court. The state argued it should be treated as the real party in interest and therefore protected by sovereign immunity.

Enbridge, however, has sought to block state efforts to terminate a long-standing easement that allows the pipeline to operate across state-owned submerged lands.

The Supreme Court’s denial of the petition for certiorari leaves the lower court decision in place, meaning Enbridge’s case can move forward without further review at the federal level.

The dispute is part of a broader legal and regulatory battle over the future of Line 5, a key piece of energy infrastructure that transports crude oil and natural gas liquids between Canada and the United States.