MADISON, Wis. – A federal judge ordered Canada-owned pipeline giant Enbridge to shut down parts of its Line 5 across northern Wisconsin within three years. Judge William Conley also ordered Enbridge to pay $5.2 million to the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa for infringing on tribal land. Judge Conley’s order is a major problem for Enbridge, whose Line 5 is essential to moving biofuels from Canadian oil fields to populous eastern provinces. The Bad River part of the Line 5 transports 23 million gallons day for 645 miles from Superior, Wisconsin, through northern Wisconsin and across Michigan to Ontario. The Bad River Band claimed that an emergency exists because large sections riverbank abutting the reservation washed away this year. The exposed pipeline is weakened and could rupture any time, the Band claimed. A rupture on tribal land, the judge agreed, “would unquestionably be a public nuisance.” Also, he noted, a rupture would likely “spark at least temporary shortages and increased prices for refined gas, propane and butane in the Upper Midwest and eastern Canada, creating hardships, especially for the poor and other economically challenged households.” Thus, Conley said, he was recognizing two sets of public interests — the Band’s and the public’s environmental concerns, and the energy needs 0f eastern Canada. The three-year deadline for Enbridge is a “conservative shutdown and purge plan,” Conley wrote.
Earlier: Judge faults tribe on Bad River inaction