Tell the Army Corps: No permits for Line 5

For more than two years, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been reviewing feedback and preparing a draft Environmental Assessment of Enbridge's proposed Line 5 reroute. This May they announced a public comment period on their draft. This is a major opportunity, and we need to make it clear that this expansion should not be permitted.

This is an opportunity to tell the Army Corps and the entire Biden Administration about your concerns around Line 5. This pipeline, run by the multi-billion dollar corporation, Enbridge, is moving oil dangerously through northern Wisconsin every day in illegal trespass, violating the Bad River Band's sovereignty.

Enbridge is trying to expand the pipeline and operate it for years to come, putting the nearby water, plants, animals and communities at risk of an oil spill, in addition to exacerbating the climate crisis. Construction of a reroute threatens major damages in itself, and would extend this risk for decades. You can help shut down Line 5 by participating in this public input opportunity!

Join us in submitting a comment and adding a personal message before August 4th.

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Comment on the Line 5 draft Environmental Assessment

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Approving these permits would needlessly jeopardize Tribal rights, irreplaceable watersheds, communities across the Great Lakes region, and the broader global community through the impacts of climate change just to maximize the profits of a multibillion-dollar oil conglomerate.

A federal judge has found that Line 5 has been illegally trespassing on the Bad River Band reservation since 2013 and ordered a shut down by June of 2026. This decision must be acknowledged in the Corps’ analysis of the public interest and the purpose and need of the project. Shutting down Line 5 is a reasonable alternative to permitting the re-route, and the Corps cannot ignore information that supports a shut down.

The public interest evaluation must also include the costs of an oil spill. While shutting down Line 5 would have little impact on jobs, prices, or fuel supplies in Wisconsin, an oil spill along the pipeline could eviscerate local economies, and generations of cultural practice and identity for members of the Bad River Band and other Ojibwe peoples, who have relied on the wild rice, the fish, and the watershed for centuries. The proposed reroute jeopardizes the rights reserved by eleven Ojibwe tribes to hunt, fish and gather in 1842 treaty territory.

The EPA has warned that the reroute project will have “substantial and unacceptable” impacts on the Bad River and on the Kakagon-Bad River Sloughs, yet the Corps improperly characterizes these impacts. These would be permanent conversions of wetlands, many of which provide critical habitat for biodiversity and wildlife and protect the larger ecosystem from severe storms and erosion.

Enbridge's track record indicates that they cannot be trusted. Their construction of Line 3 in Minnesota caused enormous damage through frac-outs and aquifer breaches, which caused nearly 300 million gallons of groundwater to flow to the surface, incurring fines and a criminal charge for Enbridge. They have proposed the same process for the reroute, and we cannot risk the damage that will likely occur to safe drinking water and water-dependent ecosystems.

The oil Line 5 carries is exacerbating the climate crisis, causing untold damage. New NEPA guidance from the Biden Administration clarifies that agencies – such as the Corps – should consider the effects of climate change in environmental reviews and encourage identification of reasonable alternatives that will mitigate climate impacts. In this case, the only reasonable alternative is a shut down of the pipeline. I expect that the Corps will fully consider climate impacts and identify the no action alternative as the best course of action.
Given these concerns, I urge you to conduct a full EIS and ultimately deny this permit.

I’m writing about the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Draft Environmental Assessment for Enbridge’s proposed reroute of the Line 5 pipeline. The Corps’ draft is insufficient and must be upgraded to a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Above all, given the concerns this project poses, the Corps should ultimately reject this permit. Approving these permits would needlessly jeopardize Tribal rights, irreplaceable watersheds, communities across the Great Lakes region, and the broader global community through the impacts of climate change just to maximize the profits of a multibillion-dollar oil conglomerate. A federal judge has found that Line 5 has been illegally trespassing on the Bad River Band reservation since 2013 and ordered a shut down by June of 2026. This decision must be acknowledged in the Corps’ analysis of the public interest and the purpose and need of the project. Shutting down Line 5 is a reasonable alternative to permitting the re-route, and the Corps cannot ignore information that supports a shut down. The public interest evaluation must also include the costs of an oil spill. While shutting down Line 5 would have little impact on jobs, prices, or fuel supplies in Wisconsin, an oil spill along the pipeline could eviscerate local economies, and generations of cultural practice and identity for members of the Bad River Band and other Ojibwe peoples, who have relied on the wild rice, the fish, and the watershed for centuries. The proposed reroute jeopardizes the rights reserved by eleven Ojibwe tribes to hunt, fish and gather in 1842 treaty territory. The EPA has warned that the reroute project will have “substantial and unacceptable” impacts on the Bad River and on the Kakagon-Bad River Sloughs, yet the Corps improperly characterizes these impacts. These would be permanent conversions of wetlands, many of which provide critical habitat for biodiversity and wildlife and protect the larger ecosystem from severe storms and erosion. Enbridge's track record indicates that they cannot be trusted. Their construction of Line 3 in Minnesota caused enormous damage through frac-outs and aquifer breaches, which caused nearly 300 million gallons of groundwater to flow to the surface, incurring fines and a criminal charge for Enbridge. They have proposed the same process for the reroute, and we cannot risk the damage that will likely occur to safe drinking water and water-dependent ecosystems. The oil Line 5 carries is exacerbating the climate crisis, causing untold damage. New NEPA guidance from the Biden Administration clarifies that agencies – such as the Corps – should consider the effects of climate change in environmental reviews and encourage identification of reasonable alternatives that will mitigate climate impacts. In this case, the only reasonable alternative is a shut down of the pipeline. I expect that the Corps will fully consider climate impacts and identify the no action alternative as the best course of action. Given these concerns, I urge you to conduct a full EIS and ultimately deny this permit.

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Image: Activists speak out against Line 5 prior to the Army Corps hearing. Photo credit: Devon Young Cupery