Enbridge rejects Michigan’s order to shut down Line 5 pipeline through Great Lakes

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Michigan’s demand that Enbridge Inc. shut down an oil pipeline that runs through a channel linking two of the Great Lakes is based on bad information and political posturing and will be ignored, the Calgary-based company said Tuesday.

Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in November moved to revoke a 1953 state easement that allowed part of the Canadian company’s Line 5 to be placed along the bottom of the Straits of Mackinac, charging that Enbridge had repeatedly violated the terms and put the lakes at risk.

Whitmer gave the company 180 days — until May 12 — to turn off the flow. Enbridge filed a federal lawsuit challenging the order shortly after it was issued.

Enbridge rejects Michigan’s order to shut down Line 5 pipeline through Great Lakes