Rally Held In Duluth to Demand Shutdown of Enbridge Line 5
DULUTH, Minn. — The Enbridge Line 5 debate rages on as those against it rallied in Duluth on Friday for a quote, “emergency shutdown” of the oil pipeline.
About two dozen water protectors gathered downtown Duluth in solidarity of the Bad River Band of Ojibwe, calling for Enbridge to shutdown Line 5. Rally organizers tell fox21, spring flooding on the Bad River, or mashkiiziibii, has eroded the riverbank and is within feet of exposing the pipeline. They say, this could cause a catastrophic rupture; risking the chance of crude oil rushing down the river into the band’s wild rice beds and lake superior.
Line 5, by the way, is a pipeline built in 1953. It extends for 645 miles carrying petroleum from western Canada to eastern Canada via the Great Lakes states.
Other solidarity protests have already been held in Wisconsin and the next is set to take place at the Wisconsin State Capitol on June 9.
A statement from organizers of the rally reads: “In 2013, the band elected not to renew leases for line 5 where it crosses lands that the band owns, and asked Enbridge to vacate its right-of-way across the reservation. Enbridge has so far refused to do so, and has been illegally trespassing on the reservation for ten years. Last year, a federal judge found Enbridge liable for trespassing, but has so far declined to order the pipeline shut down, even in response to the current emergency situation. In response to the band’s legal action, Enbridge has proposed to reroute the pipeline 41 miles around the bad river reservation. The reroute would cross dozens of streams, rivers, wetlands, and sensitive ecosystems traversing the headwaters of the Bad River watershed and the confined penokee aquifer. The band and its allies strongly oppose the reroute, and call for the pipeline’s complete removal from the area.”
A written response was provided to FOX21 from Enbridge. It reads: “There is no reason to shut down Line 5 which is constantly monitored and continues to operate safely across the Bad River Reservation. Line 5 is critical infrastructure reliably transporting affordable and essential energy to millions in the upper Midwest and Great Lakes Region. Shutting down Line 5 is not an answer – it would create shortages, high prices, close refineries, and kill jobs. Enbridge has a plan to protect Line 5 from erosion on the Bad River Reservation in the short term by placing sandbags, in the midterm by using trees to reinforce the riverbank, and in the long term by re-routing Line 5 off the Bad River Reservation. Enbridge stands ready to build these projects once necessary permits are granted, including those needed from the bad river band.”
