Canadian company Enbridge faces a deadline this week to shut down a crucial pipeline running under a Michigan waterway.
Canadian officials say forcing the pipeline to close will threaten vital infrastructure and the trade relationship between the U.S. and Canada.
Enbridge’s Line Five is part of a system that carries to the U.S. more than half of Canada’s total oil production.
But Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer ordered Enbridge to shut down a narrow stretch of the line under the Straits of Mackinac by this week.
She accuses the company of poorly maintaining the pipeline and says it could cause a catastrophic leak into the Great Lakes.
Enbridge argues that Whitmer does not have the authority to close the line.
The company says the move would cost thousands of jobs on both sides of the border and hamper a system so vital that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently raised the issue with President Biden.
Enbridge appealed Whitmer’s order in U.S. federal court and is in the midst of mediation talks with Michigan officials.