Bradley frustrated over Michigan governor’s appeal of Line-5 pipeline decision

Bryan Bicknell with an update on a natural gas pipeline in Sarnia that has been in the crosshairs of Michigan’s government for years.

It’s tied to thousands of jobs in Sarnia Lambton’s petro-chemical industry. Now the future of a pipeline that carries oil into the region is once again under threat of being shut down.

Enbridge’s Line-5 pipeline brings oil and gas from Wisconsin to Canada, passing through both Michigan peninsulas and the Mackinac Straits between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan.

The Canada-based company had sued Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer to block the state from shutting the pipeline down. Last month a federal district judge sided with Enbridge.

However, Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley, whose community is directly tied to the petro-chemical industry, says he’s grown frustrated that Whitmer is appealing the decision.

“It’s very frustrating to have our biggest trading partners, the state, the governor continually not listening to the verdicts of the court and not listening to Canadians,” he said. “That line brings in three to five thousand jobs in Sarnia Lambton alone,” he said.

The pipeline’s been in operation for more than 70 years, and it provides critical energy to both Central Canada and the U.S. Midwest.

In addition to the Michigan governor, others who want it shut down include environmental and Indigenous groups, over concerns that it could leak.

But Bradley says Enbridge is attempting to address those concerns.

“The key though is to get Enbridge to spend a half a billion dollars to protect the pipeline and the Mackinac Straits and then let us get on with operating the pipeline properly without any insecurity. I support the half billion dollars being spent, and I wouldn’t have supported Enbridge if they didn’t do that. But what we need now is the government of Michigan to respect what is happening in Canada,” he said.

Enbridge has proposed building a tunnel to house the pipeline under the Straits of Mackinac, instead of its current placement on the lakebed.

Its application is being considered by the State Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy.