The Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) and Civil Division yesterday filed a statement of interest in a case in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin involving the potential shut down of the Line 5 pipeline operated by Enbridge.
The statement of interest supports staying the district court’s injunction that requires Enbridge to cease operating its Line 5 pipeline in the Bad River Reservation by June 16, 2026. The case has been pending appeal since December 2023 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
“If the Line 5 pipeline is shut down in June, America’s energy supply chain would be disrupted and Americans would see increased costs,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of ENRD. “The Seventh Circuit is considering the case, and the district court should not impose drastic actions in this matter while the case is on appeal.”
President Donald J. Trump declared a national energy emergency which underscores the need for an affordable and reliable supply of energy for America’s prosperity and security. A shutdown of Line 5 would damage the United States’ interest because there are no ready alternatives to transport energy products currently flowing through Line 5, as the Justice Department further explained in a statement of interest filed last year in a case between Enbridge and Michigan.
Chief of Staff and Senior General Counsel John Adams of ENRD filed the statement alongside attorneys within ENRD’s Law and Policy Section and the Civil Division’s Federal Programs Branch.