Enbridge Pipeline Shuts Down Again
Pipeline shut down second time in a week near Bad River Tribe reservation.
Post marking where pipeline crosses Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Reservation.
For the second time in a week, a Canadian energy firm shut down a pipeline near the Bad River tribe’s reservation — this time to investigate crude oil staining on a weld of its pipeline.
On Wednesday, Enbridge Inc. notified state regulators that it had shut down its Line 5 pipeline in an area near Ashland where the company reported contaminated soil last week, according to Trevor Nobile, a field operations director with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. The pipeline spans around 645 miles and carries up to 23 million gallons of oil and natural gas liquids daily from Superior across northern Wisconsin and Michigan to Sarnia, Ontario.
“The notification that we received in the information that was provided to the department on the evening of Aug. 10, it was described as a small area of staining on a pipe on a weld was discovered, and that Line 5 had been shut down so crews could evaluate and make repairs,” Nobile said.
“No material was released to soil or water at this time, based on the information provided,” Nobile confirmed.
The conservation warden didn’t observe any petroleum odors, stained soil or any water at the time of the site visit. Nobile said the DNR is working with the company to gather information and determine an appropriate response.
Wisconsin Public Radio has reached out to Enbridge and Bad River Tribal Chairman Mike Wiggins, Jr., for comment.
Enbridge shut down Line 5 for three hours on Aug. 3 after crews conducting maintenance spotted a tablespoon of oil that had spilled from a valve site in the Ashland County town of Gingles. The site is about 1 mile from the reservation of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.
Enbridge and the DNR said no active release occurred, and the pipeline resumed operation the same day. The discovery led the company to excavate soil that’s suspected of contamination, and an investigation of the cause is ongoing. Enbridge told state regulators that they believed contamination of the excavated soil stemmed from a historical discharge.
The DNR has said the energy firm will be required to document all actions taken to address any contamination.
The company is proposing the $450 million project as the tribe’s legal challenge has drawn on for several years in federal court. The company’s plans have generated support from business groups, labor unions and Republican lawmakers. But tribal and environmental advocates oppose Enbridge’s plans, and have criticized the DNR’s draft environmental review of the project as incomplete and flawed.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also said the state’s review failed to fully analyze the project’s impacts and how it may harm environment and tribal resources, including failure to fully disclose the risk of spills.
Last year, the DNR alleged Enbridge violated Wisconsin’s spills law for not promptly reporting a release that occurred on its Line 13 pipeline in Fort Atkinson on April 26, 2019. State law requires entities to immediately report discharges of hazardous substances by calling the DNR’s 24-hour hotline. Enbridge didn’t report the discharge to state regulators until more than a year later on July 31, 2020.
DNR: Enbridge shuts down oil and gas pipeline again near Bad River tribe’s reservation was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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