Wisconsin Residents Voicing Concerns on Line 5 Reroute Project

WISCONSIN. –Residents of Wisconsin are voicing their concerns about the proposed Line 5 reroute project.

Enbridge is proposing to relocate a 41-mile-long portion of its existing Line 5 pipeline. Line 5 transports over half a million barrels of crude oil and natural gas to Wisconsin each day and creates the propane that comes directly to Northern Wisconsin. The pipeline currently runs across the reservation of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Enbridge is pushing for the new portion Line 5 to be routed around the reservation.

There has been over 150,000 public comments opposing federal permits for Line 5 Pipeline.

Many in opposition to the project are also calling for a complete shutdown of the pipeline.

“Myself and my peers know that it’s time to ditch fossil fuels and this November we will again show up to the polls to elect leaders who know the same,” said Isak Drangstveit, Action for the Climate Emergency (ACE). “Line 5 is an investment in a future that doesn’t exist anymore. There’s no return on the money and natural destruction spent on a project that leads to the past.”

Those against the project say hundreds of wetlands and streams would be impacted in the process. As well as saying the project would extend the use of the pipeline which is already operating over its life expectancy.

Meanwhile The Wisconsin Jobs and Energy Coalition says nearly 12,000 Wisconsin residents have joined a petition in support of the Line 5 Reroute Project.

The Coalition states “The project to relocate 41 miles of Line 5 off the Bad River Band’s Reservation is estimated to create over 700 Wisconsin union construction jobs, pump $135 million into the local economy, and bring with it millions in additional tax revenue.”