Judge keeps Michigan oil pipeline case in federal court
By JOHN FLESHER
AP Environmental Writer
A federal judge says a dispute over a Canadian oil pipeline that runs through a section of the Great Lakes belongs in her court. U.S. District Judge Janet Neff on Tuesday retained jurisdiction in the case between the state of Michigan and Enbridge Energy. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has ordered Enbridge to close Line 5, which she says risks a spill in the Straits of Mackinac connecting Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. Whitmer wants the case heard in state court. But Neff ruled that the matter raises federal issues, including a treaty between the U.S. and Canada as well as pipeline safety laws.
