The Canadian government is invoking for the second time in less than a year a 1977 treaty that will force the American government to negotiate over the fate of Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline through Michigan.
That state’s government has been fighting in court to try to get the pipeline shut down, citing fears that the aging pipeline will leak and cause serious environmental damage.
Enbridge has rejected those fears, saying the pipeline is still safe but that it will build a new tunnel to contain the pipeline.
Canada previously invoked the treaty in November 2021. Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly announced the invocation of the treaty in a statement on Monday, pointing to the “significant” impact shutting down the pipeline would carry for Canadian jobs and bills. “The economic and energy disruption and damage to Canada and the U.S.