11/15/2024

ODANAH (AP) — The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has issued the first round of permits allowing Enbridge to reroute an aging pipeline around the Bad River tribal reservation. DNR officials announced yesterday that they have issued the company construction permits. The project is controversial, garnering a lawsuit from the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa arguing the project is trespassing on trial lands. Since then, Enbridge has been working on a reroute of the pipeline south of the reservation. Approvals from both the DNR and U.S. Army Corps are needed before the project can proceed. Additional DNR permits or approvals for discharge of hydrostatic test water, dewatering of groundwater, burning of slash and incidental take of listed species may also be required. About 12 miles of Enbridge's Line 5 pipeline runs through the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa's reservation. The tribe sued the energy company in 2019 to force it to remove the pipeline from the reservation, arguing the line is prone to a catastrophic spill. Enbridge has proposed a 41-mile reroute around the reservation south to Mellen and then to the Northeast into Iron County.