Hearings start for contested Line 5 relocation

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Six weeks of hearings have started for construction permits for a 41-mile pipeline rerouting project in northern Wisconsin.

Environmental groups and a Native American tribe filed a petition after the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources issued a waterway and wetland permit to Canadian energy company Enbridge’s proposed relocation in Ashland, Bayfield and Iron counties.

Enbridge operates Line 5, a 645-mile pipeline from Superior to Canada through Michigan and the Straits of Mackinac. In 2019, the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa filed a lawsuit alleging the company trespassed on around 12 miles of the Bad River Band reservation in northern Wisconsin, prompting a deadline for Enbridge to move its pipe.

The company wants to build a 41-mile-long portion of the existing Line 5 that would go around the reservation. It will need federal, state and local permits before it can start construction.

Opponents of the project started a “Contested Case” process against permits the DNR allowed for Line 5 relocation. Opponents include the Midwest Environmental Advocates, on behalf of Sierra Club; the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin; 350 Wisconsin; the Bad River Band, represented by Earthjustice; and Clean Wisconsin.

Construction unions including the Wisconsin Pipe Trades Association, Operating Engineers 139 and Wisconsin Building Trades Council have supported the pipeline relocation for supporting jobs and economic development. Supporters included associations for agriculture, energy and manufacturing.

“The DNR went above and beyond to ensure the Line 5 relocation project would be completed in a manner that would protect Wisconsin’s Northwoods, but despite the science showing the project was safe, extremists continue to obstruct this critical energy project,” said Dan Olson, international representative for LIUNA and business manager for the Laborers’ Local 1901, in a statement.

“Not only has the DNR and EPA confirmed the Line 5 relocation is safe to the environment, but it will also employ 700 union workers and provide tens of millions of dollars in economic development to northern Wisconsin,” Olson added.

“Members of the Northern Wisconsin Building Trades understand both environmental stewardship and economic opportunity,” said Kyle Bukovich, president of the Northern Wisconsin Building Trades, in a statement. “The men and women who will build this project live and raise their families in these same communities. They care deeply about environmental safety because this is their home, too. When you combine job creation with the rigorous safety standards our unions demand, this project represents a win for working families across our region.”

Terry McGowan, business manager of the Operating Engineers 139, said in a statement that the pipeline will be built to the highest safety standards.

“The construction trades have made lifelong careers out of building Wisconsin’s infrastructure safely and efficiently, and the Line 5 relocation will be no exception,” McGowan added.

Project opponents said it posed a risk to the state’s wetlands and waterways and the Great Lakes system due to pipeline building, potential spills or both.

“We are taking legal action to block the permits because the project would cause significant long-term harm to Wisconsin’s wetlands and waterways,” wrote Peg Sheaffer, communications director for Midwest Environmental Advocates. “Any potential economic benefits would be far outweighed by the environmental harmed caused by construction, the significant risks associated with a potential spill, and the catastrophic climate impacts that will result from continued reliance on fossil fuels.”

“As a Bad River Anishinaabe woman and mother, I carry the sacred responsibility to protect the Ojibwe people here, on the lands of Bad River, with a spiritual and inherent duty to protect manoomin, our wild rice,” said Aurora Conley, Bad River Ojibwe and vice chair of the Anishinaabe Environmental Protection Alliance. “We are talking about the destruction of the Great Lakes — our relatives that nourish us and provide drinking water, not only for our children, but for over 40 million people, and all of our future generations. Life 5 threatens all that we care for. I stand with Bad River in their courageous leadership to protect our homelands, lifeways, and sacred waters.”

The Bad River Band reservation is located on the southern shore of Lake Superior. The Great Lakes combined hold around 20% of the world’s surface freshwater, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission released its own study which argued that pipeline construction posed an environmental risk to wetlands near the reservation.

However, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency disputed the study and said there wasn’t enough data to support its conclusion.

GLIFWC officials said Bad River’s challenge is based on sound technical and scientific footing. The project will still require permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, officials added.

The first meeting was scheduled for Tuesday at the Northwood Technical College Conference Center in Ashland. Meetings will continue in Madison and Ashland through Sept. 29.

Here are the scheduled meetings.

• Aug. 12: Opening statements and public testimony at Northwood Technical College Conference Center in Ashland
• Sept. 3: Public testimony at Hill Farms State Office Building in Madison.
• Sept. 4-12: MEA and Clean Wisconsin will present their case at Hill Farms State Office Building in Madison.
• Sept. 15-19: Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa will present their case at Northwood Technical College in Ashland.
• Sept. 22-26: Enbridge will present its case at Hill Farms State Office Building in Madison.
• Sept. 29: DNR will present its case at the Hill Farms State Office Building in Madison.