ASHLAND, Wis. — In a setback for environmentalists and the Bad River band of Chippewas, the Arny Corps signed off on a Canadian pipeline project south of Ashland. The approval allows the pipeline company Enbridge to build 41 miles of crude oil and natural gas pipes near the Bad River Reservation but not on Indian lands. The Indian band had opposed Enbridge’s original plan to replace its aging and decrepit line, which would have have beenon exact same route on the reservation. The band also opposed Enbridge’s later longer more circuitous revision as a threat to wild rice harvests and wildlife on which Indians rely for terr wherewithal. The pipeline, called Enbridge 5, runs from a refinery in Superior, Wisconsin, to eastern Canada. The new Army Corps approval of the revised route, is an about-face for the Corps. The Corps, in effect is bowing to directives from President Trump to prioritize U.S. energy dominance. Earlier Corps positions reflected environmentally conscious Obama and Biden poliices. In announcing its new approval, the Corps was explicit that it was it was complying with the:
> U.S. Clean Water Act.
> U.S. Rivers and Harbors Act.
> U.S. Endangered Species Act.
> U.S. National Historic Preservation
> Federal Tribal Trust responsibilities.
> Public interest.
Curiously the Corps added a proviso without further explanation: “The permit does not regulate the siting of the pipeline nor any substance being transported within it.”
Earlier: Enbridge to appeal Line 5 court ruling
Earlier: Judge to Enbridge: Three years to fix Line 5 flaws
Earlier: Judge faults tribe on Bad River inaction
Existing line. Currently cuts through tribal territory. Proposed route to the south is much longer.
Still problemtic Mackinac. In limbo is Enbridge Line 5 replacement under the strait.
Michigan obstacle
The Bad River project in Wisconsin is separate from Enbridge’s plan to build a protective tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac in Michigan. The current Line 5 old line is vuonerable to dropped anchore from shipping between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. At 60 years old, the pipes are deteriorating with time. Enbridge applications for the four-mile underwater Mackinac update still pending before Michigan and federal regulators. Conservationists and tribes call the Mackinac project be abandoned as too risky.