'It could rise to the level of Standing Rock': Wisconsinites push back against oil pipeline reroute

Dozens of Wisconsin residents pleaded with state natural resources leaders, asking them to not allow a Canadian oil company to reroute a transport line, with one woman cautioning that the issue could rise to a conflict level like that of the Standing Rock protests. 

The residents spoke during an hours-long public comment session held by the Department of Natural Resources Wednesday afternoon.

The session was the beginning of the permitting process that would allow Enbridge Energy to continue transporting oil across the northern portion of the state. The Canadian oil company is seeking to reroute one of its oil transport lines away from tribal lands where easements have begun to expire. 

Among those who spoke was Carla Giovanis of Madison, who said that not considering the impact that a project like this could have on indigenous populations was unconscionable. 

"To be honest, I think if this permit moves forward, we're going to be heading towards a Standing Rock level of social conflict," she said. 

Standing Rock was a months-long protest in North Dakota against Dakota Access LLC, which the Standing Rock Sioux tribe led over the potential disturbance of sacred sites and drinking water for thousands of residents on the reservation. The pipeline was meant to take crude oil from the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota to Illinois and cross the Missouri River just upstream of the reservation, according to an NPR report. The demonstrations lasted nearly a year, and the protests were punctuated by images of police tear gassing groups of protesters, including elder tribal members and children. The Trump administration ultimately allowed the pipeline to be completed. 

During the online meeting, which lasted more than five hours, DNR officials heard testimony from speakers from across Wisconsin, as well as some from Minnesota. Many said they did not want the pipeline moved deeper into the Bad River watershed.

Enbridge would need permits for construction on waterways and wetlands, including dredging and filling wetlands. Most of the impacts would be temporary, the company said in a presentation Wednesday night, but a small portion would be permanent.

Residents expressed concern that an oil spill could decimate the area, known for its trout fishing and Lake Superior views. 

"There's a right and wrong between water and oil and you know what it is," said 18-year-old Ella Syverson of Ashland. "Water is life and oil is death." 

Others said that climate change should be forcing energy companies to look to more sustainable practices, not installing new pipelines that could be obsolete or unneeded in years. 

Only a few callers spoke in favor of the pipeline, mostly union representatives and members. 

The company is looking to move Line 5, which runs for about 12 miles through the reservation of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. For the re-routing, Enbridge is looking to use eminent domain to take property on which to bury the lines, something that those against the move are fighting. 

The project requires the taking of land not just where the pipeline will lie, but also a 120-foot-wide construction right of way and a 50-foot wide permanent right of way, plus temporary work spaces, if needed, according to the DNR. 

The plan proposes a new, 41-mile-long pipeline that would go around the reservation, according to the DNR. The construction, if approved by all necessary agencies, would take place in 2021. 

According to the Enbridge website, Line 5 is 645 miles long and transports 540,000 barrels per day of light crude oil, light synthetic crude oil and natural gas liquids. The pipe is 30 inches in diameter, and has been operating since 1953. The products that Line 5 carries are used to make transportation fuels and fuels used to heat homes, schools and businesses and to drive industry in Wisconsin, the larger Midwest region and eastern Canada, the website says. 

The plan to move the pipeline was born from a lawsuit filed in July 2019 by the Bad River Band. The tribe alleged that the pipeline was on land where easements had expired in 2013, but the company disagreed. 

That case is on hold, said Rob Lee, a staff attorney with Midwest Environmental Advocates.  

But the tribe has continued to push back, stating that Line 5  puts the both the tribal community and other neighboring communities at risk. The goal? To get Enbridge to shut down the line.

"No amount of compensation is worth risking Wenji-Bimaadiziyaang — an Ojibwe word that literally means 'From where we get life,'" Bad River Tribal chairman Mike Wiggins Jr. wrote in a 2019 newsletter update about the pipeline and lawsuit. "It's time to end the imminent threat the company is presenting to our people, our rivers, and Gichi-Gami (Lake Superior). It's not only an infringement of our sovereignty, but a burden felt by our people having to engage in the perpetual chase for the next pipeline rupture. It's time to stop the flow of oil immediately."

Line 5 has also been in the news lately in Michigan. According to a report from the Detroit Free Press, a judge ordered a temporary shutdown of the line on June 25, after damage was discovered to an anchor holding the 67-year-old pipeline at the bottom of the Straits of Mackinac. 

The company shut down both the eastern and western pipelines in the Straits after the ruling, but reactivated the western pipeline without consulting state officials. Democratic members of Michigan's congressional delegation have asked the Trump administration to order Enbridge to shut down the line while the damage was assessed, according to the Detroit Free Press. 

The DNR will accept written comments about the pipeline move until July 11. Another public comment meeting will be held after the DNR finishes a draft of the environmental impact study. 

Laura Schulte can be reached at leschulte@gannett.com and twitter.com/SchulteLaura.