Groups join Ojibwe against Wisconsin Line 5 project

By FRANK VAISVILAS

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The League of Women Voters and the environmental groups Clean Wisconsin and 350 Wisconsin recently joined the Bad River Ojibwe Band in its efforts against an oil pipeline in far northern Wisconsin.

The groups filed a lawsuit in Ashland County Circuit Court against the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, arguing the state agency cannot lawfully approve pipeline work at four water crossings near the Bad River Reservation.

Canadian-based Enbridge, Inc., applied for the permits for its Line 5 reroute project. In a previous legal challenge, an administrative law judge found Enbridge was not eligible for the permits because it did not own the affected properties.

The Bad River Ojibwe (represented by Earthjustice), the League of Women Voters (represented by Midwest Environmental Associates) and the environmental groups argue Enbridge sought a workaround the legal finding by acquiring property at three of the four crossings while apparently granting the original landowners options to repurchase their properties. The lawsuit alleges the property transactions amount to short-term leases of riparian, or water use, rights, which is not allowed under Wisconsin law.

“(The) DNR failed to follow prescribed procedures and made material procedural errors that impaired both the fairness of the permitting process and correctness of the Permit Decisions,” the lawsuit reads.

A DNR spokeswoman said they are unable to comment about pending litigation.

Enbridge spokeswoman Juli Kellner said the company followed DNR rules and was the co-applicant at all four waterbody crossings.

“The property transactions have been completed are a matter between Enbridge and the property owners,” she wrote in an email.

Midwest Environmental Associates spokesperson Peg Sheaffer said Enbridge has continued to run afoul of Wisconsin law in its repeated attempts to overcome legal barriers to the project.

“Until they demonstrate that they have met all the requirements of Wisconsin law, construction at the four stream crossings must not be allowed to proceed,” she said in a statement.

Kellner said Enbridge and the DNR have followed state law and established practice throughout the process. She said Enbridge has filed a motion asking the court to lift the stay of work order at all four sites.

The Line 5 oil pipeline currently crosses a 12-mile stretch of the Bad River Reservation. When the easements allowing the pipeline expired in 2013, the tribe argued in court to remove the pipeline from its lands. A federal appeals court on July 30 affirmed an earlier ruling agreeing with the tribe that Enbridge has been trespassing on tribal lands since 2013.

Enbridge eventually agreed to a reroute, but tribal officials contend the proposed reroute is still too close to the reservation and a spill could affect nearby waters and devastate the environment in the entire region.

Work continues on the Line 5 reroute, just not at the four water crossings in question because of pending litigation. An estimated 1,600 to 1,900 gallons of drilling fluid from construction recently spilled into forested wetland near the town of Gurney.

Kellner said the company cleaned up the spill following preapproved response plans.

She said the Line 5 reroute project is already the most studied pipeline in the state’s history with more than 117,000 pages of documents that fully supports its permits.

“Line 5 is critical energy infrastructure serving 10 refineries and propane production facilities and continues to operate safely and reliably delivering affordable energy to millions of consumers in the Midwest and Great Lakes regions,” Kellner said in a statement.