State environmental regulators released a final environmental impact statement Friday on a Canadian energy firm’s plans to reroute an oil and gas pipeline around a northern Wisconsin tribe’s reservation.
In 2019, the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa sued Canadian firm Enbridge in federal court to shut down and remove the 70-year-old Line 5 on tribal lands. In response, the company proposed a $450 million plan rerouting the pipeline around the tribe’s reservation.
Line 5 runs 645 miles from Superior to Sarnia, Ontario. It’s designed to carry up to 540,000 barrels of oil and natural gas liquids daily.
In the proposed reroute, a new stretch of 30-inch pipe would run 41 miles around the reservation in Ashland and Iron counties. State and federal regulators say the project would cross 186 waterways and temporarily disturb 101 acres of wetlands.
The 898-page document released Friday relied on 10,000 pages of materials that reflects hours of testimony and more than 32,000 comments submitted to the agency, according to Greg Pils, director of the DNR Bureau of Environmental Analysis and Sustainability.
“This is a critical step in making a permitting decision,” Pils said. “The (environmental impact statement) does not compel a decision, but it is there to inform our decision-making.”
Enbridge has applied for multiple permits with the agency. Pils said the agency doesn’t have a timeline for issuing decisions on whether to approve or deny those applications.
In a statement, Enbridge spokesperson Juli Kellner said the document’s release is an important step in the permitting process for the project.
“The project has been designed to avoid and minimize temporary construction impacts, and we believe the planned route is the best alternative,” Kellner wrote. “The Wisconsin DNR has thoroughly evaluated the environmental impacts of the proposed project.”