Enbridge Aims To Restart Line 5 Tuesday After Massive Gas Leak
State officials say air outside the evacuation zone is safe, but benzene risks remain on site.
Enbridge now hopes to restore service to its Line 5 oil and gas pipeline by Tuesday after a gas leak last week in northern Wisconsin. (Danielle Kaeding/WPR)
Enbridge now hopes to restore service to its Line 5 oil and gas pipeline by Tuesday after a gas leak last week in northern Wisconsin.
The Canadian energy firm had hoped to restore service by Saturday. In an update late Wednesday, Enbridge said its crews have been injecting compressed air to help safely evaporate remaining gas at the site on Sitan Road in Iron County.
On Aug. 25, a subcontractor’s unoccupied flatbed truck rolled into an excavation site for a Line 5 valve project, striking the pipeline and releasing natural gas liquids. Around 31,000 barrels, or 1.3 million gallons, of mainly propane and butane vaporized into the atmosphere. As of last weekend, around 84,000 gallons of natural gas liquids remained within the excavation area.
No injuries have been reported and Line 5 remains shut down. Work has resumed on rerouting the pipeline after Enbridge temporarily halted construction this week to reinforce safety practices.
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services verified that its review of air monitoring found no evidence of any health concerns outside the evacuation zone. Monitoring showed propane and isobutane fall below risk levels for an explosion. Levels of benzene at the site are also below thresholds for short-term health risks and are expected to decrease over the coming weeks.
“However, the benzene level does pose an elevated long-term health risk at this time, so nobody without the appropriate PPE and clearance should enter the exclusion zone,” the agency said.
Benzene is a light-yellow or colorless liquid chemical at room temperature that can evaporate quickly into the air, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Long-term exposure to high levels of benzene can cause cancer. Short-term exposure can irritate the eyes and skin, as well as cause headaches and dizziness.
DHS said it supports more air monitoring within and outside the evacuation area to better understand any contamination and its spread.
Due to safety concerns, the DNR has not yet been authorized to access the site by the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. The federal agency is conducting an investigation into the cause of the incident, including any violations of federal pipeline safety regulations.
Enbridge said water monitoring wells have been installed at the site, and results of water sampling are expected soon. The company said sampling of surface water and a nearby residential well showed no impacts from the release.
The company has been working with refineries to reduce the effects of the shutdown. Enbridge’s Line 5 carries up to 23 million gallons of crude oil and natural gas liquids daily from Superior to Sarnia, Ontario. The pipeline serves 10 refineries and propane facilities in the Midwest and Great Lakes region.
Enbridge more than halfway done with Line 5 reroute
Enbridge has finished construction on roughly two-thirds of its $1 billion reroute of Line 5. The company is building a new 41-mile stretch around the Bad River Band’s reservation in Ashland and Iron counties. The company has reached peak construction with around 700 workers on the project.
In 2020, Enbridge proposed the reroute after the Bad River tribe sued the company in 2019 to shut down and remove Line 5 from tribal lands where Enbridge lacked easements for the pipeline.
Three years ago, a federal judge found the company was trespassing and ordered Enbridge to pay roughly $5 million and shut down or reroute Line 5 by June of this year. The tribe and Enbridge appealed the decision, and the shutdown order was placed on hold this year.
Earlier this month, a federal appeals panel ruled that Enbridge has been trespassing and must remove the pipeline from the Bad River reservation, but it gave the company more time to complete the Line 5 reroute.
Four releases of drilling fluid have occurred on the Line 5 project, ranging from five to up to 1,900 gallons spilled. The DNR has issued four notices of noncompliance that have been resolved.
Enbridge hopes to restore service to Line 5 by Tuesday after gas leak was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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