Bad River: Enbridge’s reroute

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NATIONAL NATIVE NEWS:

A post marks where Enbridge’s Line 5 crosses the reservation of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa on Friday, June 24, 2022. (Photo: Danielle Kaeding / WPR)

After securing key state permits, hurdles remain for a Canadian energy firm’s plan to reroute an oil and gas pipeline around the Bad River tribe’s reservation in Wisconsin.

As Danielle Kaeding reports, that includes renewed calls from tribal leaders to shut down Enbridge’s Line 5.

Bad River Tribal Vice Chair Patrick Bigboy says he’s shocked and upset with the state’s decision to grant permits for Enbridge’s reroute.

The company proposed a new 41-mile segment around the tribe’s reservation after the band sued the company to shut down and remove Line 5 from its lands. Bigboy says he wants the pipeline completely out of the Bad River watershed.

“It’s now at the headwaters, which compromises more of the reservation and the waterways, wetlands, all the things that are in line with the river and the flow of the water.”

Bigboy says the federal government should uphold the tribe’s treaty rights and water quality standards and deny federal approval of the project.

Enbridge’s Midwest operations director Paul Eberth says federal regulators will determine if its reroute poses impacts downstream.

“We expect to be able to, like we did with the state, meet the conditions in order to be able to secure a permit.”

An attorney for the tribe says they’re evaluating next steps for a legal challenge.