This post originally appeared at https://wisconsindailystar.com/news/wisconsin-manufacturers-and-commerce-urges-dnr-to-move-on-permitting-line-5-pipeline-project/mkittle/2023/06/21/

Time is of the essence for the Evers administration to act on a critical energy pipeline relocation project in northern Wisconsin, according to the state’s largest chamber of commerce and manufacturers’ association.

Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC) is urging the state Department of Natural Resources to swiftly move forward with a slow-moving permitting process of Enbridge Energy Co.’s Line 5 relocation project in northern Wisconsin.

U.S. District Court Judge William Conley of the Western District of Wisconsin issued his ruling on Friday, giving the Canada-based oil company three years to complete its rerouting of the oil and natural gas pipeline off land owned by the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.

“The court will give Enbridge an additional three years to complete a reroute. If Enbridge fails to do so, the three years will at least give the public and other affected market players time to adjust to a permanent closure of Line 5,” the judge wrote in his decision. He also ordered Enbridge to pay the tribe $5 million in compensation.

While WMC said it applauds the court’s decision to not immediately shut down Line 5 and allow it to continue to safely operate, Conley’s deadline draws more urgency to the regulatory process.

“Wisconsin businesses depend on the energy provided by Line 5 and a shutdown would have devastating impacts on our state’s economy and families,” said Scott Manley (pictured above), WMC executive vice president of Government Relations.

On Tuesday, Enbridge announced it will appeal Conley’s ruling. The company asserts its contract with the tribe to operate in the disputed area runs through 2043. It’s the lengthy permitting process that has slowed down the relocation project, critics say. Enbridge first filed for federal and state permits three years ago.

“While the three-year timeline is arbitrary, it is achievable, provided government permitting agencies follow reasonable and timely processes,” the company said in a statement. “We urge prompt government action so this project can be completed within the next three years.”

Enbridge said its contract with the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa allows it to continue operating the disputed section of the pipeline through 2043. Last year, Conley found the energy provider has been trespassing on portions of the tribe’s land since 2013, when some of Enbridge’s easements expired.

WMC and other supporters of Line 5 argue the pipeline is vital to the upper Midwest’s energy infrastructure and to Wisconsin’s economy. It moves as much as 540,000 barrels of energy products each day throughout the region. As WMC notes, to transport the equivalent, it would require 2,100 Tander trucks traveling across Northern Wisconsin roads each day — or about 90 trucks leaving the Superior terminal each hour. The 60-foot-wide line runs 645 miles in total, from Northwest Wisconsin to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, beneath the Straits of Mackinac and into Canada.

Enbridge officials said they will continue to pursue government permits needed to reroute the pipeline away from the tribal lands. It filed for the federal and state permits in 2020.

Manley said the company began the permitting process for the $450 million-plus Wisconsin Segment Relocation Project in 2020. In July 2019, the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians filed a lawsuit seeking the removal of the section of the pipeline, built 70 years ago, from the Bad River Reservation. Enbridge proposes relocating 12 miles of Line 5 from the property, replacing it with approximately 41 miles of pipe outside of the reservation.

But the company can’t move forward until the DNR makes a decision.

“It’s been over three years since Enbridge began the permitting process with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, yet no decision has been made,” Manley said. “There is no excuse for this delay, and Wisconsinites who rely on this critical energy infrastructure deserve better. We call on the Wisconsin DNR to immediately approve this project, and allow the relocation work to begin.”

Tribal officials and environmental activists have been trying to shut down the line for years. Last month, Bad River Band officials filed an emergency motion asking Conley to immediately shut down the stretch in question, arguing spring floods were only exacerbating erosion and putting the pipeline in risk of rupturing.

Conley said the tribe didn’t prove an imminent threat existed to the pipeline, while expressing frustration over the tribe’s refusal to work with Enbridge to slow erosion on the river, Wisconsin Public Radio reported.

“The band has not helped itself by refusing to take any steps to prevent a catastrophic failure at the meander,” the judge said. “You haven’t even allowed simple steps that would have prevented some of this erosion.”

Meanwhile, the regulatory slog continues at a Department of Natural Resources ultimately led by Governor Tony Evers, a far left Democrat with a penchant for an extreme climate change agenda and powerful environmental allies.

While the DNR released its draft environmental review in 2021, it has yet to publish its final environmental impact state or issue permits for the reroute.

Wisconsin Public Radio reported last year that the Environmental Protection Agency found the state had yet to fully analyze its potential effects on water resources, climate change, treaty rights and spill risks. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is also reviewing Enbridge’s application for a permit under the Clean Water Act.

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M.D. Kittle is the National Political Editor for The Star News Network.
Photo “Scott Manley” by Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce. Background Photo “Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Building” by I. CC BY-SA 3.0.

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