(The Center Square) – Public testimony on permits for a Line 5 reroute in northern Wisconsin will take place starting on Wednesday in Madison.
Environmental groups and the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians are challenging the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources approval of permits 41-mile reroute of Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline off reservation land and instead surrounding it.
The pipeline reroute still requires approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Enbridge and supporters such as the Wisconsin Jobs and Energy Coalition say that the group went through rigorous environmental impact studies and challenges to show there will not be significant impact from the project, which they say is essential for Wisconsin’s economy.
“We don’t need more trucks or more rail on our infrastructure,” FutureWood President Steve Aderman said in a testimonial about the pipeline’s benefits. “It’s the best carbon footprint that we can have right now. Enbridge has proven time and time again – we have six miles of pipeline that comes through our property, our company-owned property – and they’ve always maintained the highest integrity, environmental stewardship, communication, accountability.”
The groups challenging the permits point to a 2024 Enbridge Line 6 spill of more than 69,000 gallons of crude oil in Oakland, Wis., located in Jefferson County east of Cambridge, due to a failed gasket flange.
“They also say the reroute will have permanent negative environmental impacts on the reservation and areas such as the band’s rice beds, which the band relies upon for food,” Earthjustice Senior Attorney Stefanie Tsosie said in opening remarks of the set of hearings.
“If something happens to this region, the Band has nowhere else to go – it’s the Band’s homeland.”
Members of the public who have already registered to speak will begin public testimony at 9 a.m. on Wednesday at the Hill Farms State Office Building in Madison.
Public testimony is scheduled to continue through Sept. 12.
The Bad River Band will then present its case Sept. 15-19 in Ashland, Enbridge will present Sept. 22-26 in Madison and the DNR will present its case from Sept. 29-Oct. 3 in Madison.
