Grand Rapids — A federal district judge in Michigan will help decide a longstanding fight over the future operation of the Line 5 oil pipeline through the Straits of Mackinac that has revolved around arguments about whether state or federal officials have the primary authority over the pipeline.

U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker heard arguments in Grand Rapids federal district court for more than an hour Wednesday about the controversial pipeline’s continued operation, even as other skirmishes in the five-year legal battle play out in Ingham County Circuit Court and the U.S. Supreme Court.

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