Agency will now decide whether to allow construction of the controversial pipeline
Last Friday, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources released its long-awaited final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the controversial Line 5 oil pipeline project. Calgary-based Enbridge, Inc. is seeking permits from the DNR that would allow the company to reroute its pipeline across 186 northern Wisconsin waterways and 612 acres of wetlands. The proposed route is upstream of Copper Falls State Park, posing devastating risks to the Bad River watershed, including the Bad River, Kakagon Sloughs, 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.”
The compilation of documents released by the DNR is a required environmental review of Line 5 under Wisconsin’s Environmental Policy Act and must be completed before the agency can issue construction permits to Enbridge. The permits would allow Enbridge to begin clearing trees, digging trenches and filling wetlands in northern Wisconsin to make way for the pipeline. On the federal side, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is also considering whether to issue permits allowing impacts to waters under its jurisdiction.
“The DNR’s Environmental Impact Statement came just one week after the deadline for public comments on the draft environmental review of Line 5 by the Army Corps. More than 150,000 people submitted comments critical of the reroute and that review. The Corps and DNR are expected to make permitting decisions in the coming months, and Clean Wisconsin will be ready to respond,” Korte says.
For more information on Line 5 and how you can get involved, visit Clean Wisconsin’s Line 5 web page.
