BAY CITY (AP) — A judge has ruled in favor of the federal government and an energy company in a dispute over an oil pipeline that runs through a national forest in Oscoda County.
The Sierra Club sued the U.S. Forest Service, saying it didn’t prepare an environmental analysis when it renewed Enbridge Energy’s permit.
But federal Judge Thomas Ludington dismissed the case recently.
He says the Forest Service simply is allowing Enbridge to keep the pipeline on federal land and conduct routine operations.
Ludington says any changes to pipeline activity are not within the Forest Service’s jurisdiction.
The judge also notes there are protections for Kirtland’s warbler birds.
The 30-inch pipeline is part of a line that starts in Wisconsin and ends in Ontario, Canada.
