Line 5 pipeline needed amid Russian energy crackdown, Ottawa tells Michigan

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has been trying to close Line 5 since November 2020, fearing a leak in the Straits of Mackinac, where the pipeline crosses the Great Lakes.

The federal government is urging the state of Michigan to abandon efforts to shut down the controversial Line 5 cross-border pipeline.

Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says the ban on energy imports from Russia means Canada and the U.S. need all the shipping capacity they can muster.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has been trying to close Line 5 since November 2020, fearing a leak in the Straits of Mackinac, where the pipeline crosses the Great Lakes.

The state has been battling in court with Enbridge Inc., the pipeline’s Calgary-based owner and operator, ever since.

President Joe Biden announced earlier this week a ban on imports of Russian oil, coal and natural gas liquids, part of a punishing suite of economic sanctions in response to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

The ban comes with the U.S. already battling record-high gasoline prices, part of an inflationary spike brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

But the war in Ukraine is only part of the reason why Line 5 needs to stay open, Wilkinson said in an interview.

“Given what’s going on, but just more generally, I think that it is an important piece of existing infrastructure,” he said.