By Mary Annette Pember, ICT News

This article was originally published by ICT News, formerly Indian Country Today.

The contested Enbridge Line 5 reroute around the lands of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Reservation in northern Wisconsin enters a critical phase beginning Aug. 12.

The date kicks off multi-week public hearings challenging permits and other regulatory approval issues by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for construction of a new 41-mile section of Enbridge Energy’s Line 5, a 645-mile pipeline that originates in Superior, Wisconsin, and ends in Sarnia, Ontario.

Currently, about 12 miles of the 72-year-old pipeline runs through Bad River lands. Enbridge’s proposal for a 41-mile reroute around the reservation won initial permits from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in 2024.

“The 72-year-old pipeline currently cuts across the heart of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Reservation, where it has been trespassing for more than a decade,” Earthjustice, which is representing the tribe in court, said in a statement. “The reroute construction project crosses nearly 200 waterbodies and impacts over 100 wetlands. It will violate the Bad River Band’s water quality standards, and may damage downstream wild rice beds that are a cornerstone of the Band’s identity and culture.”

Juli Kellner, a spokesperson for Enbridge, said officials are optimistic the project will proceed.

“We always welcome public input in the permitting process, which has involved more than five years of public testimony, expert studies, and rigorous review,” Kellner wrote. “Our hope is to be in the field before the end of the year. The project will create millions of dollars in local project spending, hundreds of construction jobs, and millions in earmarked spending with Native-owned businesses, Tribal community investments, and hiring and training local Native American workers.”

She said Enbridge expects the contested case to be completed this year, allowing construction to begin soon after.

“Line 5 is critical energy infrastructure serving 10 refineries and propane production facilities – to meet the everyday energy needs of millions of people in the Midwest and Great Lakes Region.”

Ongoing disputes

Enbridge first secured easements for the pipeline from the Bad River tribe in the 1950s, renewing them in the 1970s and the 1990s. The easements expired in 2013.

The tribe sued Enbridge in 2019 to force the company to remove the pipeline from the reservation, arguing the 72-year-old line is prone to a catastrophic spill. That same year, Enbridge proposed building a 41-mile reroute around the reservation’s southern border.

In 2022, U.S. District Judge William Conley in the Western District of Wisconsin ruled that Enbridge was illegally trespassing on Bad River lands. In 2023, the same court ruled that Line 5 posed a public nuisance and ordered Enbridge to shut down the pipeline crossing the tribe’s lands within three years, by June 2026, and ordered the company to pay the tribe $5.1 million in unlawfully accrued profits.

Bad River and Enbridge appealed Judge Conley’s decision to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. Bad River wants the court to order Enbridge to shut down its pipeline immediately and Enbridge argues that the judge has no authority to shut down the pipeline. Both parties have been awaiting a decision since February 2024.

In November 2024, the Department of Natural Resources issued initial construction permits for Enbridge’s reroute plans. Tribal leaders and environmental groups are concerned that the pipeline presents risk of rupture and say construction for the reroute — which calls for blasting, drilling and digging trenches — would devastate wetlands, streams and endanger the tribe’s wild rice beds in the sloughs of Lake Superior.

Enbridge is awaiting another permit from the U.S Army Corps of Engineers. In June 2024, a public hearing for the Corps’ draft of its environmental assessment for the project drew angry responses from hundreds of citizens in Ashland and more than 150,000 virtual comments opposing the permit. No date for a final assessment has been released.

Earthjustice filed a petition for a contested case hearing on behalf of the tribe in December 2024 as well as a lawsuit in Ashland County. Midwest Environmental Advocates, 350 Wisconsin and League of Women Voters also filed a petition for a hearing.

Schedule of public hearings

The series of public hearings will be conducted by a judge in Ashland and Madison, Wisconsin, ending on Oct. 3. Here is the schedule:

• Aug. 12, Ashland: Opening statements and testimony, Northwood Technical College Conference Center, 2100 Beaser Avenue, Ashland, Wisconsin
• Sept. 3, Madison: Public testimony; speakers must sign up on Aug. 12 in person or via Microsoft Teams; hearing at Hill Farms State Office Building, Room S149, 4822 Madison Yards Way
• Sept. 4–12, Madison: Midwest Environmental Advocates on behalf of Sierra Club, 350 Wisconsin and League of Women Voters, and Clean Wisconsin will present their case; Hill Farms State Office Building, Room S149, 4822 Madison Yards Way
• Sept. 15–19, Ashland: Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa will present their case, Northwood Technical College Conference Center, 2100 Beaser Avenue
• Sept. 22-26, Madison: Enbridge will present its case, Hill Farms State Office Building, Room S149, 4822 Madison Yards Way
• Sept. 29-Oct. 3, Madison: The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources will present its case, Hill Farms State Office Building, Room S149, 4822 Madison Yards Way

More information about the contested hearing schedule is available from the Wisconsin DNR.