(Source: MIRS.news, Published 06/21/23) Canadian-based Enbridge Energy will appeal a Wisconsin judge’s $5.15 million trespass ruling, which also calls for the company to remove its pipeline from an Indian tribe’s reservation within three years.
Enbridge spokesperson Ryan Duffy said Tuesday that Enbridge is “pleased” U.S. District Judge William Conley “rejected nearly all” of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians’ positions, and the company agrees with the decision not to immediately shut down.
“However, the company disagrees with several aspects of the court’s orders, including that Enbridge is in trespass, and that Line 5 must cease operations on the Bad River Reservation within three years,” Duffy said. “Enbridge’s position has long been that in a 1992 contract between Enbridge and the Band, the Band consented to operations of Line 5 on the Reservation through 2043.”
The Bad River Band filed the suit in 2019 seeking a shutdown order to remove Line 5 pipeline from its reservation.
On Friday, Conley concluded “that a rupture of Line 5 at the Bad River meander would unquestionably be a public nuisance, and that the current conditions at the meander create a real and unreasonable risk of that nuisance occurring such that equitable relief is warranted.
“However, the current threat of rupture is still not so imminent that an immediate shutdown of the pipeline is necessary to prevent the nuisance,” the judge added.
Conley’s order also notes that Enbridge continues to pay the Band “for each quarter that Line 5 operates in trespass on the 12 allotment parcels.”
Mike Wiggins, chair of the Bad River Band, said the victory is “not a cause for unqualified celebration” because the tribe is under “no illusion that Enbridge will do the right thing.
“We expect them to fight this order with all of their corporation might,” he said in a statement. “This is just one step in protecting our people and water.”
Duffy said Enbridge is weighing its options, including requesting a stay of Conley’s decision while the appeal is heard.
In May, Attorney General Dana Nessel asked the Wisconsin court to take emergency action to close Line 5, claiming it imposed an imminent threat. In Michigan courts, Nessel continues to fight the continued operation of Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac.
How, if at all, Conley’s ruling could impact negotiations between Canada and the U.S. is not clear. Those conversations are ongoing after Canada invoked a 1977 treaty after Michigan’s Governor demanded closure of Line 5.
