Current:Home > ScamsTribe and environmental groups urge Wisconsin officials to rule against relocating pipeline -OceanicInvest
Tribe and environmental groups urge Wisconsin officials to rule against relocating pipeline
Fastexy Exchange View
Date:2025-04-08 09:43:50
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A tribal leader and conservationists urged state officials Thursday to reject plans to relocate part of an aging northern Wisconsin pipeline, warning that the threat of a catastrophic spill would still exist along the new route.
About 12 miles (19 kilometers) of Enbridge Line 5 pipeline runs across the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa’s reservation. The pipeline transports up to 23 million gallons (about 87 million liters) of oil and natural gas daily from the city of Superior, Wisconsin, through Michigan to Sarnia, Ontario.
The tribe sued Enbridge in 2019 to force the company to remove the pipeline from the reservation, arguing the 71-year-old line is prone to a catastrophic spill and land easements allowing Enbridge to operate on the reservation expired in 2013.
Enbridge has proposed a 41-mile (66 kilometer) reroute around the reservation’s southern border. The project requires permits from multiple government agencies, including the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Part of the permitting process calls for the Wisconsin Coastal Management Program, a division within Gov. Tony Evers’ Department of Administration, to rule on whether the reroute complies with state coastal protection policies.
Bad River Chair Robert Blanchard told division officials during a public hearing on the question that the reroute would run adjacent to the reservation and any spill could still affect reservation waters for years to come.
Other opponents, including representatives from the National Wildlife Federation and the Sierra Club, warned that the new route’s construction could harm the environment by exacerbating erosion and runoff. The new route would leave scores of waterways vulnerable in a spill, they added.
They also argued that Enbridge has a poor safety record, pointing to a rupture in Enbridge’s Line 6B in southern Michigan in 2010 that released 800,000 gallons (about 3 million liters) of oil into the Kalamazoo River system.
Supporters countered that the reroute could create hundreds of jobs for state construction workers and engineers. The pipeline delivers energy across the region and there’s no feasible alternatives to the reroute proposal, Emily Pritzkow, executive director of the Wisconsin Building Trades Council, said during the hearing.
Enbridge didn’t immediately return a voicemail seeking comment on the hearing.
It’s unclear when a ruling might come. Department of Administration spokesperson Tatyana Warrick said it’s not clear how a non-compatibility finding would affect the project since so many other government agencies are involved in issuing permits.
The company has only about two years to complete the reroute. U.S. District Judge William Conley last summer ordered Enbridge to shut down the portion of pipeline crossing the reservation within three years and pay the tribe more than $5 million for trespassing. An Enbridge appeal is pending in a federal appellate court in Chicago.
Michigan’s Democratic attorney general, Dana Nessel, filed a lawsuit in 2019 seeking to shut down twin portions of Line 5 that run beneath the Straits of Mackinac, the narrow waterways that connect Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. Nessel argued that anchor strikes could rupture the line, resulting in a devastating spill. That lawsuit is still pending in a federal appellate court.
Michigan regulators in December approved the company’s $500 million plan to encase the portion of the pipeline beneath the straits in a tunnel to mitigate risk. The plan is awaiting approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
veryGood! (9122)
Related
- Scoot flight from Singapore to Wuhan turns back after 'technical issue' detected
- 9 ways to get healthier in 2024 without trying very hard
- Selena Gomez Reveals Her Next Album Will Likely Be Her Last
- Prosecutors accuse Sen. Bob Menendez of introducing Qatari royal family member to aid NJ businessman
- As Trump Enters Office, a Ripe Oil and Gas Target Appears: An Alabama National Forest
- Taylor Swift cheers on Travis Kelce at New Year's Eve Chiefs game in Kansas City
- Hawaii man dies after shark encounter while surfing off Maui's north shore
- Gas prices fall under 3 bucks a gallon at majority of U.S. stations
- Rolling Loud 2024: Lineup, how to stream the world's largest hip hop music festival
- Trump appeals Maine ruling barring him from ballot under the Constitution’s insurrection clause
Ranking
- Chuck Scarborough signs off: Hoda Kotb, Al Roker tribute legendary New York anchor
- Why Michigan expected Alabama's play-call on last snap of Rose Bowl
- Brooke Hogan confirms marriage, posts 'rare' photo of husband Steven Oleksy: 'Really lucky'
- $39 Lululemon Leggings, 70% off Spanx Leggings & More Activewear Finds To Reach Your 2024 Fitness Goals
- New data highlights 'achievement gap' for students in the US
- Gunman breaks into Colorado Supreme Court building; intrusion unrelated to Trump case, police say
- A congressman and a senator’s son have jumped into the Senate race to succeed Mitt Romney in Utah
- The First Teaser for Vanderpump Villa Is Chic—and Dramatic—as Hell
Recommendation
Woman dies after Singapore family of 3 gets into accident in Taiwan
Police say Massachusetts man shot wife and daughter before shooting himself
9 ways to get healthier in 2024 without trying very hard
Trump, 5 other Republicans and Biden approved for Wisconsin primary ballot
Kylie Jenner Shows Off Sweet Notes From Nieces Dream Kardashian & Chicago West
Shannen Doherty opens up about 'desperately' wanting a child amid breast cancer treatments
Coach-to-player comms, sideline tablets tested in bowl games, but some schools decided to hold off
Blake Lively Proudly Shows Off Her Interior Design Skills in Peek Inside Her Home