WCMC: Call for immediate citizen action as riverbank erosion nears the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline

Pipeline employee says he was fired for raising safety questions

Yellow post (right) marks Line 5’s centerline. Image: Peter Bigboy’s Facebook page, captured by WCMC before Bigboy’s account was hacked.

(Recommended actions listed in an earlier version of this blog have been updated.Information on Judge Conley’s ruling has been corrected/)

Riverbank erosion near the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline corridor is raising immediate safety concerns about the pipeline’s stability and the possibility of a rupture, reports the Wisconsin Citizens Media Coop (WCMC).

The erosion is occurring along the Bad River, where it runs through the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa’ reservation in northern Wisconsin. The erosion is now within seven feet of the Line 5 pipeline, WCMC reported.

Organizers are asking for people to pressure on President Biden to revoke Line 5’s Presidential Permit. The permit is needed for liquid pipelines that cross the U.S. border, which Line 5 does, at Sarnia, Ontario. The Secretary of State has the authority to issue Presidential Permits.

To create pressure at the federal level, contact Biden, the U.S. State Department, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Here are a few options.

Petitions/Actions

• National Wildlife Federation: Shut Down Line 5 Action
• Oil & Water Don’t Mix: Tell Biden: Shut Down Great Lakes Crude Oil Pipeline 
• Earthjustice: Tell Biden Admin to Shut Down the Line 5 Pipeline
• Michigan LCV: Send a Message to President Biden urging him to support shutdown

Line 5 moves “540,000 barrels – or 22.68 million gallons – per day of light crude oil and natural gas liquids,” according to Enbridge.

Petition to rename Sibley State Park, Cherokee Nation seeks promised Congressional seat, and more

In this post:

• Naturalist starts petition to rename Sibley State Park
• Cherokee Nation deserves Congressional seat U.S. promised in 1835
• Bad River Band slams Enbridge in latest legal brief
• MN350’s Mutual Aid winter appeal for front-line water protectors

Bad River Band calls Line 5 court ruling a “positive step,” and other news

In this blog:

• Bad River Band: Court ruling in Enbridge Line 5 trespass case a “positive step”
• Nez Perce defendants get court win upholding off-Reservation Treaty rights to fish
• Report: Former Interior Secretary Zinke lied about his involvement to undermine Tribal casino plans

How much damage could Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline wreak in Wisconsin? Take the tour!

Every time a new crude oil pipeline is proposed, community efforts to stop it get better and better.

Such is the case with efforts to stop the new Enbridge Line 5 in Wisconsin. People mobilizing to stop it have created a virtual tour of a critical portion of pipeline route so others can see the potential harm.

They did a fantastic job of combining a map, narrative, and photos. Check it out here.

EPA urges U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to consult Native Nations on Line 5 decisions, honor ‘reserved treaty rights’

In the fall of 2021, 17 federal agencies agreed to coordinate and collaborate “for the Protection of Tribal Treaty Rights and Reserved Rights.”

It didn’t get signed in time to affect decisions on the Enbridge Line 3 tar sands pipeline in Minnesota, but it could make a difference in the federal review of the proposed rebuild of the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline across northern Wisconsin.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) referenced the commitment to honor treaty rights in a March 16 letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) regarding an Enbridge Line 5 permit application. The letter specifically urged the Corps to consider how Line 5 would impact the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa’s “reserved treaty rights” to hunt, fish, and gather on the land they ceded to the U.S. government.

EPA raises red flags on Enbridge Line 5’s environmental and tribal impacts

Minnesota DNR belatedly provides new information on Line 3 aquifer breeches

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had raised a number of warnings about Enbridge’s plan to replace its Line 5 tar sands pipeline, including the pipeline’s impact on water quality and Native nations.

The pipeline would run through the watershed that feeds into the Kakagon-Bad River Slough Complex, which abuts Lake Superior. It’s an environmentally sensitive area: 10,760 acres of mostly undeveloped sloughs, bogs, and coastal lagoons, critical to the lake’s health.

For instance, the area harbors “the largest natural wild rice bed on the Great Lakes,” according to the Ramsar International Treaty. “[T]hese wild rice beds are becoming increasingly fragmented on Lake Superior – as the only remaining extensive coastal wild rice bed in the Great Lakes region, it is critical to ensuring the genetic diversity of Lake Superior wild rice.”

MN environmental leaders press Walz to pull Line 3 permits, PA Attorney General sues pipeline company for ‘environmental crimes,’ and more

In this blog:

• Minnesota environmental leaders press Walz, Flanagan to pull Line 3 permits due to Enbridge’s construction problems and reporting failures
• Scientists provide extensive list of Enbridge Line 3’s construction and oversight problems
• Pennsylvania Attorney General sues Energy Transfer for ‘environmental crimes’ during construction of the Mariner East 2 Pipeline
• Scientists release water analysis from Enbridge Line 3 frac out sites
• Looking at future environmental damage from Enbridge Line 5 in Wisconsin