Enbridge Line 5. U.S. portion of trans-Canada route. Images: Enbridge
Parallels I-75 bridge. Underwater for 4.9 miles and 240 feet deep. Not to scale
Vital national interests v. environment v. fishery v. treaties v. easement
OTTAWA, Ont. – Canada’s prime minister Justin Trudeau, may be facing a make-it or break-it showdown with the United States over a pipeline that runs through Michigan en route to eastern provinces. Canada already has had setbacks for pipelines carrying crude oil from Alberta. This winter President Joe Biden has cancelled the Keystone XL pipeline into the Dakotas and southward. The reason: Environmental concerns and tribal objections. The same U.S. concerns have stalled the Line 5 pipeline under the four-mile Mackinac Straits between Upper and Lower Michigan. For Canadians the question js whether Trudeau has the clout to prevail in whit’s seen as Canada’s national interests. Seamus O’Regan, Canada’s minister of natural resources, has called Line 5 vital part of Canadian energy security. The line was built in 1952 and needs upgrading and also more capacity. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, an important Biden ally, has drawn a line in the sand over the Mackinac Straits proposal. Last fall she ordered Line 5 owner Enbridge to shut down the pipeline. Enbridge has not done so, pointing to a 1953 easement for Line 5’s twin pipes beneath the Straits of Mackinac. There also is the matter if a 1977 treaty that bars both the Uniied States and Canada from hampering with oil transmission.
Trudeau. Canadians have gasoline heating oil, jet fuel needs.
Line 5 profile
Length: 1,200 miles from Alberta to Ontario border with extensions into populous Ontario and Quebec.
U.S. length: 645 miles across northern Wisconsin and Michigan,
Capacity: 23 million gallons a day.
Destination: Refineries that supply half of Ontario‘s needsand two-thirds Quebec’s.
Owner: Enbridge Energy of Calgary, Alberta.
Other controversial Canadian pipeline projects:
> Keystone XL through the Dakotas and Nebraska.
> Dakota Access Pipeline.
> Enbridge’s Line 3 in northern Minnesota.
CAPTION Trudeau. Canadians have gasoline heating oil, jet fuel needs.
CAPTION Biden. Sees environmental, tribal concerns.
CAPTION Whitmer. Worries about pipeline breaks.
Earlier: Keystone backers seen backing off
Earlier: Will Biden White House side with Sioux?
Earlier: Federal judge OKs Line 3 replacement