Judge rules Enbridge pipeline case be heard in federal court

(Reuters) — A legal battle between Canadian company Enbridge Inc. and the state of Michigan over Enbridge’s Line 5 oil pipeline will be heard in U.S. federal court, a judge ruled Tuesday, dismissing Michigan’s motion to have the case sent back to state court.

Line 5 ships 540,000 barrels per day of crude and refined products from Superior, Wisconsin, to Sarnia, Ontario, via the Straits of Mackinac in the Great Lakes.

Michigan had ordered the pipeline to shut down by last May over concerns an underwater section could leak into the Great Lakes, an order that Enbridge has ignored.

Last month, the Canadian government, which intervened in the court case in support of Enbridge, invoked a 1977 pipeline treaty with the United States to trigger negotiations between Ottawa and Washington over the pipeline’s fate.

Calgary, Alberta-based Enbridge welcomed the decision from U.S. District Judge Janet Neff in the Western District of Michigan.

“This is both a federal and international law issue and the federal court will now handle the case,” a company spokesman said.

Michigan is reviewing the decision and considering its next steps, a spokeswoman for the state attorney general’s department said.

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