LWV Article for The Bottom Line News and Views December 2019

By Joan Elias, Board Member, League of Women Voters of Ashland and Bayfield Counties

Map Courtesy of Sierra Club

Enbridge Line 5 is a pipeline that runs from Superior, WI, to Sarnia, Canada, passing through the Bad River Indian Reservation and under the Straights of Mackinac along the way – 2 incredibly environmentally sensitive areas.  The lease for Enbridge Line 5’s passage through the Reservation expired several years ago. The Tribe filed a lawsuit demanding that Enbridge decommission the line and remove it from the Bad River Watershed. The pipeline is exposed and largely unsupported in a tributary to Denomie Creek.  Meanders of the Bad River are approaching dangerously close to the line. Increasing frequency of extreme storm events and flooding are shifting the river’s path, threatening to expose the pipe to damage from uprooted trees and other flood debris. Enbridge’s lease through the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest has also lapsed.  Lawsuits are pending in Michigan regarding the passage of the line through the Straights of Mackinac because of public safety and ecological concerns.

 Enbridge Line 5 was built in 1953. The company claims it has had a good safety record despite 33 spills since 1968 amounting to over 1.1 million gallons.  (Statistics prior to 1968 are not available.)  The petroleum products it carries originate in Canada and end in Canada – Wisconsin residents use none of these products.

 In response to the Tribe’s lawsuit Enbridge proposes to re-route a portion of Line 5 around the Reservation, south along the western boundary to Mellen, then north along the eastern boundary to rejoin the existing pipe north of US HWY 2. This re-route is entirely within the Bad River Watershed and does not meet the Tribe’s demand to remove the pipe from the watershed.  Further, it threatens more streams and tributaries to the Bad River, many of them trout streams, than the existing route.   The crossing of these streams and wetlands poses many risks - such as warming stream temperatures due to a decrease in shading, altered hydrology, and of course the risk of spills - both during construction and throughout the life of the pipeline.

 The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin has strong positions supporting Tribal Sovereignty, renewable energy, and protection of natural resources, especially waterways and drinking water. With these state positions as backing, the League of Women Voters of Ashland and Bayfield Counties (LWV/ABC) passed a resolution OPPOSING Enbridge Line 5 and SUPPORTING the efforts of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians and others, including private landowners along the current and proposed Enbridge Line 5 corridor, to halt any expansion or relocation of the line and rather to see it removed from the Bad River watershed and decommissioned entirely.

 The League of Women Voters of Ashland and Bayfield Counties is a nonpartisan political organization encouraging informed and active participation in government. It influences public policy through education and advocacy. Get in touch with the local League at http://www.lwvabcwi.org/ or info@lwvabcwi.org.