(The Center Square) – The waterways, rice beds and water quality around the Bad River Band reservation in northern Wisconsin will be permanently impacted by a 41-mile reroute of Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline off reservation land and instead surrounding it, attorneys argued in opening statements of a series of hearings contesting permits for the work.
But groups advocating for the reroute say the four-year permit process was thorough and fulfilled all of the requirements for approval by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources as the project awaits approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
“These project impacts are not unavoidable,” Earthjustice Senior Attorney Stefanie Tsosie said. “And they aren’t acceptable under the state’s wetlands and water laws. Once you’ve heard the evidence you can set aside DNR’s approvals for this project.”
The Wisconsin Jobs and Energy Coalition along with the Wisconsin Building Trades Council support Enbridge completing the reroute.
The council cited a 900-page environmental impact statement and 231 environmental protection conditions within the permits after the lengthy permit process.
“Members of the Northern Wisconsin Building Trades understand both environmental stewardship and economic opportunity,” Kyle Bukovich, President of the Northern Wisconsin Building Trades, said 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.”
Groups opposed to the project have cited prior Enbridge pipeline spills, including Enbridge’s Line 5, which spilled more than 69,000 gallons of crude oil in Oakland, Wis., located in Jefferson County east of Cambridge, due to a failed gasket flange.
“An oil spill of any meaningful size could be catastrophic,” Clean Wisconsin attorney Evan Feinauer said in a statement. “Such a spill is far from outlandish given the proposed route’s geology, steep slopes, erodible soils, and numerous other risks. Despite all of this, DNR issued the permits anyway. It knew about most of these problems, and it should have known about the rest.”
Proponents of the project, however, say the demand for oil will exist with or without the pipeline and so will some level of risk.
“Line 5 is more than steel in the ground; it’s a lifeline for our region’s economy and for the livelihoods of real, working people,” said Chad Ward from Teamsters Local 346. “We’re talking about 700 good-paying union jobs during construction, with wages that allow workers to stay in their communities, support local businesses, and raise families with dignity.
“Let’s be clear, pipelines like Line 5 are statistically the safest and most environmentally responsible way to transport energy and utilize the latest technology and construction methods to ensure maximum safety. If this pipeline is shut down, the oil doesn’t go away. It just gets moved on other modes of transportation, right through more towns, past more schools, with higher risks and a bigger carbon footprint.”
