Wisconsin agency issues first round of permits to reroute Enbridge Line 5 | News, Sports, Work

ENBRIDGE PIPE AT THE SUPERIOR WISCONSIN TERMINAL, JUNE 2018. (AP Photo/Jim Mone, File)

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Enbridge’s controversial plan to reroute an aging pipeline around a tribal reservation in northern Wisconsin moved closer to reality Thursday after the company received initial approvals from state regulators.

Officials with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources announced that they have issued permits for construction of Route 5, which reroutes around the Bad River in the Upper Chippewa Lake Reservation. The energy company still needs emission permits from the DNR as well as the US Army Corps of Engineers.

The project caused fierce opposition. The tribe wants the pipeline off its land, but tribal members and environmentalists say rerouting construction would harm the region’s watershed and perpetuate the use of fossil fuels.

The DNR issued construction permits with more than 200 conditions. The company must complete the project by Nov. 14, 2027, hire DNR-approved environmental monitors and allow DNR staff access to the facility during reasonable hours.

The company must also notify the agency within 24 hours of any permit violations or spills of hazardous materials affecting wetlands or waterways; no drilling fluid may be discharged into wetlands, waterways or sensitive areas; keep spill containment equipment at points of entry and exit from the workplace; and monitoring the introduction and spread of invasive plant species.

Enbridge officials issued a statement praising the approval, calling it a “an important step” for construction that will ensure a reliable flow of energy to Wisconsin and the Great Lakes region.

Bad River tribal leaders warned in their own statement Thursday that the project would require blasting, drilling and trenching that would devastate wetlands and streams and threaten the tribe’s wild rice beds. The tribe said the investigation found water quality violations and three aquifer violations related to construction of the Line 3 pipeline in northern Minnesota.

“I am angry that the DPR signed a half-hearted plan that spells disaster for our homeland and our way of life.” This is stated in the statement of the head of Bad River, Robert Blanchard. “We will continue to raise the alarm to prevent another Enbridge pipeline from endangering our watershed.”

Line 5 transports up to 23 million gallons of oil and natural gas daily from Superior, Wisconsin, through Michigan to Sarnia, Ontario. About 12 miles of the pipeline runs through the Bad River Reservation.

In 2019, the tribe sued Enbridge to force the company to remove the pipeline from the reservation, arguing that the 71-year-old line was prone to catastrophic spills and that land easements that allowed Enbridge to operate on the reservation expired in 2013.

Enbridge proposed rerouting the 41-mile route around the reservation’s southern boundary.

The company only has about two years to complete the project. Last year, U.S. District Judge William Conley ordered Enbridge to shut down the portion of the pipeline that runs through the reservation for three years and pay the tribe more than $5 million for the intrusion. Enbridge’s appeal is pending in a federal appeals court in Chicago.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, filed a lawsuit in 2019 seeking to shut down the dual portion of Line 5, which runs under the Straits of Mackinac, the narrow waterway that connects Lakes Michigan and Huron. Nessel argued that anchor strikes could rupture the line, leading to a devastating spill. That lawsuit is still pending before a federal appeals court.

Michigan regulators in December approved the company’s $500 million plan to tunnel part of the pipeline under ducts to reduce the risk. The plan is pending approval by the US Army Corps of Engineers.