A White House press secretary on Monday confirmed the Biden administration is reviewing shutting down the Line 5 pipeline after anonymously sourced reports said federal officials were quietly studying its potential environmental impact.
When pressed by a reporter during a news conference, White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre disputed reports saying President Joe Biden is going to shut down the pipeline, which stretches from Canada into Michigan. However, she conceded that the Army Corps of Engineers is reviewing the matter.
“Yes, we are. We are,” Jean-Pierre said. “I thought you were saying that we were going to shut it down, but that is not inaccurate. The Army Corps of Engineers is preparing an environmental impact [statement] to look through this.”
Jean-Pierre added that “any reporting indicating that some decision has been made, again, is not accurate,” and an Environmental Impact Statement “will help inform any additional action or position the U.S. will be taking on the replacement of Line 5.”
Line 5 is part of a pipeline network that moves crude oil and other petroleum-based products from Canada, transporting some 500,000 barrels per day.
On Sunday, Politico reported that the administration is weighing the potential market impacts of closing down the pipeline in the face of Republican, Canadian government, and industry opposition. More than a dozen GOP lawmakers last week sent a letter to the president warning that the move would further cause gas prices to increase amid already-high prices.
Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has also sought to shut down one segment of the pipeline, ordering Enbridge Inc. to stop operations in May due to concerns about a section running under the Straits of Mackinac leaking into the Great Lakes.
But in October, the Canadian government, which backs Enbridge and Line 5, escalated the dispute and invoked a decades-old treaty between Canada and the United States.
Protesters were able to force the shutdown of the pipeline for several hours on Oct. 20 after they trespassed onto a Michigan facility and tampered with the pipeline equipment. Line 5’s operator was able to get the pipeline up and running after several hours.
This is an excerpt from The Epoch Times.
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