Today Clean Wisconsin took legal action to block permits that would allow construction of a major crude oil pipeline across parts of northern Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) issued permits in November that would allow Canadian oil giant Enbridge to clear trees, dig trenches and fill wetlands to make way for a new 41-mile segment of its Line 5 pipeline.
Clean Wisconsin and Midwest Environmental Advocates (representing the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, 350 Wisconsin and Sierra Club) filed a challenge to that decision saying the permits fail to protect the state’s critical water resources.
“Wisconsin law protects wetlands and waterways from harm, and it makes clear that projects that would harm our waters must meet a high bar to move forward. This project comes nowhere close to meeting that bar,” says Clean Wisconsin attorney Evan Feinauer. “Construction of the pipeline will require drilling, blasting, grading, dredging, and other methods to carve a path through these wetlands and waters. The steps Enbridge claims it would take to complete this construction without serious harm to Wisconsin’s waters are clearly insufficient, and the DNR should not have issued permits authorizing this destructive project to move forward.”
Enbridge is pushing to build the long stretch of pipeline through some of Wisconsin’s most pristine and valuable wetlands. The proposed route, which crosses dozens of northern Wisconsin waterways and would harm hundreds of acres of wetlands, is upstream of Copper Falls State Park and poses a major risk to the Bad River watershed and Lake Superior.
“These are some of the most treasured areas in Wisconsin. When we think of the beauty our state, our precious freshwater resources, the places we must protect, these areas are at the top of the list,” says Clean Wisconsin attorney Brett Korte. “This push from Canadian oil giant Enbridge is getting national attention because what it’s proposing to do here in Wisconsin is so dangerous.
Under state law, the challenge from Clean Wisconsin and its partners stays, or pauses, implementation of the permits. Construction cannot move forward unless that stay is lifted by the judge in the case.
The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa also separately filed a challenge to the permits today.
