Michigan Gov. Whitmer looking to shut down Enbridge pipeline during national gas shortage
'I’m taking every action I can to shut them down,' Whitmer writes in a Washington Post op-ed
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer botched timing in her attempt to shut down another oil pipeline as America is experiencing a major gas shortage.
The Democrat explained in a Washington Post op-ed on Friday that the Line 5 pipeline owned and operated by Enbridge Inc. has pumped crude oil through the cross-section of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, the Straits of Mackinac, for 70 years. Whitmer described the two 4.5 mile sections as a "ticking time bomb."
"Oil and water don’t mix — especially when the latter involves the Great Lakes, the repository of more than 20 percent of the world’s fresh water," she writes.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I’m taking every action I can to shut them down, to protect two Great Lakes and the jobs that depend on them."
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Line 5, which is part of a network that moves crude oil and other petroleum products from Western Canada, transports about 540,000 barrels per day. Whitmer mentioned the rupture of Line 6B of the Enbridge pipeline back in 2010 which alerted the nation to the dangers of oil spills – a disaster she’s attempting to avoid.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}But the recent Colonial Pipeline hack which shut down the entire 5,500-mile stretch caused a scramble at the gas pump, driving prices to record highs and causing major shortages. According to reports, a Virginia gas station raised its regular gas prices to $7 per gallon.
Whitmer filed a lawsuit in November against Enbridge notifying that the state of Michigan would allow the pipeline 180 days to cap oil flow operations. The governor threatened to "disgorge the company of all profits unjustly earned" upon refusal to comply, to which Enbridge replied they will continue pumping until a court orders them to stop.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Running pipelines through the water of the Great Lakes is, and always has been, a dangerous threat," Whitmer concluded. "I will not sit idle as this time bomb keeps ticking."