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Whitmer threatens profit seizure if pipeline keeps operating

Posted at 8:56 PM, May 12, 2021
and last updated 2021-05-12 20:56:36-04

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is threatening to go after Enbridge's profits from a Great Lakes oil pipeline if it isn't shut down.

The Democratic governor issued the warning Tuesday in a letter to Enbridge, a Canadian oil transport company. Whitmer ordered the company last November to close the line by May 12. She agrees with environmentalists and native tribes that a section of Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac is vulnerable to a spill.

Enbridge says the pipeline is safe and won't be shut down unless a federal court or agency requires it. Supporters of the pipeline say losing it would cause economic damage and job losses.