Sarnia's mayor says a Michigan judge's decision to rule the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline dispute as a federal case is a huge win for both the city and Canada.
On Thursday, Judge Janet Neff said the case belongs in federal court, which is being called a blow to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's repeated bids to shut down the pipeline over safety concerns.
Mike Bradley said Line 5 continues to be a key piece of infrastructure and is critical in the shipment of crude oil between Canada and the U.S.
"The federal government of Canada has taken the position from day one that this is a federal issue and not a state issue," said Bradley. "The governor has ignored that, and has lost repeatedly in the courts. I would hope the governor would accept the decision of the court, her own court, and move on. Let's move forward to encase that pipeline where they're concerned about it, which anyone on the Great Lakes would be concerned about, and then let's get back to a good relationship between Michigan and Ontario."
Thursday marked the second time in nine months that Judge Neff has sided with Enbridge in the case.
Mayor Bradley said Gov. Whitmer's actions over the past couple of years have been very damaging to the relationship between Ontario and Michigan.
"We have over $90 billion in trade between Ontario and Michigan," he said. "They're our largest trading partners, and these actions in trying to shutdown the line over the past few years have done great damage to that. So, here's an opportunity to move forward and deal with this at the federal level. The bonus that it's now being seen as a federal issue is that for Canada there's a federal piece of legislation passed between the United States and Canada back in 1977, that's never been used, that says if the two governments can't reach a solution then there's an arbitration process. That's all we've been asking for all along, is a fair process and not a political one."
Line 5, which runs between Superior, Wisconsin and Sarnia, carries crude oil and natural gas liquids used in propane to industries in the city, and elsewhere in the province and Quebec.
In the past Enbridge said Line 5 will continue to operate safely while it focuses on plans to construct a 6.4-kilometre tunnel to replace the lines beneath the Straits of Mackinac.
Mayor Bradley believes those upgrades will be sufficient in terms of negating the chance of any spills.