UPDATED: Bad River Band opposes Enbridge Line 5 pipeline permit

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The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa is ready to testify against a permit for the Enbridge Line 5 extension in northern Wisconsin.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is considering a permit for Enbridge to build a 41-mile pipeline extension around the tribe’s reservation. The project follows a federal judge’s ruling that Enbridge trespassed on tribal land and a deadline to close an existing pipeline inside the reservation is in order.

The extension is part of a larger, 645-mile starting in northwest Wisconsin through Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, under the Straits of Mackinac and through Canada. Line 5 moves up to 22 million barrels of crude oil and natural gas each day, which is later refined for propane for energy use, WPR reported.

Enbridge has planned the extension since 2020 and needs permission from the the corps and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources before breaking ground.

The tribe has fought Enbridge’s presence in court since 2019 after the company continued to operate the pipeline after an agreement expired in 2013.

The corps scheduled a public hearing for Tuesday and Wednesday after the Bad River Band objected to permitting the pipeline, citing the Clean Water Act for dredged and fill materials in bodies of water including wetlands, a public notice showed.

Virtual sessions for public hearings were scheduled between 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, according to the corps.

A business coalition including Wisconsin labor unions, the forest industry and farm organizations announced they hoped to testify in support of the pipeline extension. Construction officials said they plan to argue that their practices for pipeline building already follow federal and local environmental standards.

“Sadly, opponents of the project are not only using the legal process to try and reverse the DNR permits, but they are also trying to get the federal government to stop the project by using absurd arguments that could impact any construction project throughout our region,” said Neil Sickich, a business agent with Steamfitters 601.

“I have personally worked on Enbridge projects as well as countless other pipeline projects in and outside of Wisconsin,” Sickich continued. “I have firsthand experience in the practices Enbridge uses to safeguard the environment during construction, and as a resident of (Bayfield County), I have a vested interest in protecting our environment. I have complete confidence the Line 5 relocation project will be done safely and with minimal impact on the environment,” he added.

“I appreciate and respect the desire of the Bad River Band to remove Line 5 from their reservation,” said Terry McGowan, president and business manager of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 139, in a statement. “However, it appears you are being asked to substantially alter basic construction practices – which follow environmental guidance from agencies like the EPA and Wisconsin DNR – in a way that would make it nearly impossible for development of any kind to move forward across much of Northern Wisconsin,” he added.

The tribe is also challenging the state’s permitting process and hearings will be held in August, September and October in Madison and Ashland for arguments against the DNR’s decision to issue permits for the project, the Wisconsin Examiner reported.

In Michigan, the corps fast-tracked permits for a segment of pipeline under the Straits of Mackinac, which link Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, following an emergency executive order by President Donald Trump, the Associated Press reported.

Groups such as the Wisconsin Propane Gas Association, the Wisconsin Building Trades Council, Construction Business Group and Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce showed support for the project.

Corey Starr, the international representative for the Laborers’ International Union of North America, said at Tuesday’s hearing that the union had extensive experience working on projects like Line 5 and has a labor agreement with Enbridge’s selected contractor Michels Pipeline.

Tuesday and Wednesday’s hearing had dozens of speakers in favor of or against the pipeline extension.

On Wednesday’s hearing, officials from the Bad River Band and environmental management agencies said breaking ground for the project could effect water quality for the reservation.

“Because contaminants can and do persist in the water column for fairly large distances, the land alterations caused by pipeline construction and operation will cause some changes in water quality, and the close proximity to the reservation means that there’s little opportunity for dilution,” said Esteban Chiriboga, an environmental specialist with the Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission.

However, officials from the Environmental Protection Agency said there wasn’t enough data to show construction will break water standards in the reservation, Wisconsin Public Radio reported.

“The materials EPA reviewed did not provide data, studies or modeling analysis that showed and quantified impacts of distance from any given discharge point to water quality on the reservation, the likelihood of discharges, including discharges of pollutants traveling from groundwater to surface waters and then to the reservation boundary,” said Tera Fong, regional director for Region 5 for the EPA.

In response, tribal officials said those conclusions relied on inaccurate information that underestimated the project’s effects on the watershed, WPR reported.

“The EPA’s conclusion isn’t surprising, but this is hearing isn’t about what the EPA thinks,” said Stefanie Tsosie, an attorney at Earthjustice who represents BRB. “It’s about the Band’s water quality standards. The Band is the expert, and hours of data and testimony shared yesterday explain why the Band has determined that the reroute will harm their water quality standards. That should be the end of the discussion,” she added.

If the project were to break ground, it might have dire effects on the land, the wildlife and people in the reservation, said Robert Blanchard, chairman of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.

“As Anishinaabe, we believe every living plant or animal has a spirit,” Blanchard said, “Whatever happens upstream from our reservation will affect the waters that we and so many others depend on for survival,” he added.