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U.S. Supreme Court unanimously backs Nessel, keeps Line 5 case in Michigan court

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The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday handed Michigan’s Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel a victory, offering a unanimous decision that laid to rest a years-long debate over whether her case to shut down Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline should be heard in state or federal court.  In an 14-page opinion penned by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the court held that Enbridge had missed its 30-day window to have the case removed to federal court, with the Canadian energy company making its request 887 days after receiving Nessel’s initial complaint.  The company’s Line 5 pipeline has been a long-running concern for tribal nations and environmentalists in the region, with Nessel calling it a “ticking time bomb” for the Great Lakes.

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Mackinac Straits Line 5 “worst case” oil spill could stretch from Beaver Island to Michigan thumb

New report by University of Michigan Water Center offers statistical analysis of Straits of Mackinac Linen 5: Worst Case Spill Scenarios From staff reports More than 700 miles of shoreline in lakes Huron and Michigan are potentially vulnerable to oil spills if the pipeline beneath the Straits of Mackinac ruptures, according to a new University […]

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What lurks beneath

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Environmentalists, activists, citizens and a growing number of Michigan policymakers worry that if Pipeline 5 under the Mackinac Straits were to rupture and spill oil directly into the world’s largest freshwater resource, the damage could decimate aquatic ecosystems, local economies and the tourism industry. One in five Michigan jobs are tied, directly or indirectly, to safe and clean water.

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Tar Sands oil ain’t Jed Clampett’s bubblin’ crude

Three years after the July 25, 2010 Kalamazoo River oil spill, this tragedy holds important warning signs for communities and municipal and state governments. Oil pipelines now crisscross the entire country, running through Midwestern states that are not oil producers but have become oil transit zones. Many of them already carry Canadian Tar Sands oil.

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