NorthAmOil: Biden administration denies considering Line 5 shutdown

The administration of US President Joe Biden has denied reports that it was considering shutting down Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline, which is at the centre of a dispute with the State of Michigan.
Reports had emerged that the Biden administration was quietly studying the impact of shutting down Line 5. However, a White House spokeswoman, Karine Jean-Pierre, told reporters on November 8 that the idea was “inaccurate”. Instead, the White House is awaiting the findings of a study by the US Army Corps of Engineers into a new tunnel that would house the underwater portion of Line 5 before deciding whether to wade into the debate over the pipeline’s future.
The dispute over Line 5 has been ongoing for around a year. Enbridge is seeking to replace the underwater section of the pipeline that runs through the Straits of Mackinac, housing it in the proposed tunnel. But Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has issued an order to have the pipeline shut down altogether, citing concerns over its safety. Enbridge has defied Whitmer’s order thus far, and after court-ordered arbitration between the two sides failed, Canada’s federal government stepped in, invoking a dispute resolution provision of a 1977 treaty with the US.
A move by Biden to halt the pipeline would not be entirely without precedent, given that one of his first actions on taking office in January was to revoke a permit for the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada, effectively killing the project. However, Line 5 is already built, and has been in service for around 68 years.