Activists Occupy WI DNR Headquarters to Protest Approval of Line 5 Oil Pipeline
Photo by Ian Phillips
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
News from: Cross Border Organizing Working Group, Communities United By Water, and Grassroots Water Protectors and Land Defenders
Press Contact: Stephanie Spehar, stephanie.spehar@gmail.com
International Coalition of Activists Rally at WI DNR Headquarters in Madison to Protest Approval of Line 5 Oil Pipeline
MADISON, WI — A broad coalition of activists including Indigenous Water Protectors and international climate justice organizers rallied at the Wisconsin DNR's headquarters on Monday to protest its recent approval of a permit to construct a 41-mile reroute of the Line 5 oil pipeline in northern Wisconsin. That go-ahead came just days after the agency was notified of an oil spill from Enbridge’s Line 6 pipeline near Oakland in Jefferson County. The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa have fought Line 5 for years, pointing to the risk of a massive oil spill that threatens their traditional hunting, gathering, and fishing grounds and Lake Superior.
The group of around 50 gathered at the Capitol at 9:00 AM. Indigenous Water Protectors and activists spoke and expressed their frustration that the DNR approved the permit for the Line 5 reroute, over the objections of the Bad River Band and the public, despite Enbridge’s history of oil spills and environmental destruction, and in the face of a worsening climate crisis.
The group then marched to the DNR to deliver a letter to DNR Director Greg Pils, demanding that the DNR revoke the permit and support the decommissioning and removal of Line 5. The group occupied the DNR lobby and stated their intention to stay until someone would speak with them. Several members of the group attempted to enter the business office of the DNR but were detained by security officers and police. At the time of this release, an Indigenous elder had been arrested and taken to jail, and two other Water Protectors had been told they would be arrested if they attempted to enter the building again.
Line 5 carries up to 23 million gallons of crude oil and natural gas liquids every day from Superior, WI to Sarnia, Ontario. Both Lines 5 and 6 are owned by Enbridge, a Canadian multinational oil corporation. Line 5 currently crosses 12 miles of Bad River Band territory. In 2013 the Bad River Band declined to renew Enbridge’s easement to operate on their land, and they filed a federal lawsuit in 2019 to remove the pipeline from their reservation. In late 2022, a federal district judge ruled that Enbridge was trespassing on the tribe's land, and a federal court recently ordered the section of the pipeline running through Bad River lands to be shut down by 2026.
Photo by Ian Phillips
The 41-mile Line 5 reroute proposed by Enbridge avoids crossing the Bad River reservation. However, the tribe opposes the reroute because it would put the pipeline directly upstream of their reservation, impacting traditional hunting and fishing grounds and violating their treaty rights. Indigenous activists also point out Enbridge’s history of oil spills and poor track record with environmental protection, especially Enbridge’s recently constructed Line 3 pipeline in northern Minnesota. Line 3 crosses through traditional Anishinaabe/Ojibwe territory and was constructed in 2021 despite widespread opposition.
Dawn Goodwin, White Earth Anishinaabe/Ojibwe, Co-founder, R.I.S.E. Coalition, and Representative, Indigenous Environmental Network, was on the front lines of that struggle. She says, “During a global pandemic in 2020, Enbridge was granted the final water permit to begin construction of Line 3. My homelands were invaded by sub-contractors and strangers as they began clearing the pipeline easements of trees. Then we listened, watched, reported, and held space in opposition to the destruction taking place beneath our feet during the summer of 2021. The construction of Line 3/93 left us with 4 reported aquifer breaches and 13 reported horizontal drilling fluid frac-outs into wetlands and 14 releases in non-surface waters. Proprietary drilling fluids also polluted water at 12 out of 15 HDD water crossings. These numbers reflect statistics that have been reported or required to report by Enbridge. We wonder what wasn't reported. Although 68,000 people expressed opposition against the relocation of Line 3 versus 4,000 people in support the permit was given. From Minnesota, we see the same pattern of regulatory capture and the disregard for Treaties.”
Photo by Ian Phillips
Activists say that the aging Line 5 should be shut down rather than rerouted due to the imminent threat of an oil spill, its violation of Indigenous treaty rights, and the need to stop the fossil fuel extraction that is driving the climate crisis. As a result of flooding in 2023, only 11 feet of land separated one segment of the pipeline from the Bad River, which empties into Lake Superior, the largest area of fresh surface water in the world. In 2021, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer ordered Enbridge to shut down Line 5, calling it “an unreasonable risk” to the water supply and to the economies of the Great Lakes. In August 2024, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers received over 150,000 public comments opposing the continued operation of Line 5.
Despite this opposition, Enbridge’s plan to reroute Line 5 and extend its lifespan continues to move forward, with the DNR permit being a step in this direction. The DNR states that the permit contains “more than 200 conditions to ensure compliance with state’s wetlands and waterways standards,” and that the construction permits include “specific plans for erosion control and water quality protection.” However, activists and environmental advocates do not think these conditions make the pipeline safe, pointing out that the 72-year-old pipeline has already spilled one million gallons of oil in its lifetime, and that it is in danger of rupturing in the sections that run through Bad River lands and under the Straits of Mackinac, threatening the entire Great Lakes ecosystem.
Photo by Ian Phillips
Greg Mikkelson, an organizer with the Cross Border Organizing Working Group, which works to build relationships among climate and environmental activists across North America, says, "Enbridge Line 5 abets mayhem all around the world: deforestation and water pollution in Alberta, where companies scrape tar out of sand; oil spills across Wisconsin and Michigan; and the global heating equivalent of detonating hundreds of atomic bombs in the atmosphere every single day. The proposed expansion of this pipeline would lock in dependence on this disaster-genic source of energy for decades to come. Meanwhile, Wisconsinites consume virtually none of the oil or gas carried in Line 5. Shame on the DNR for approving the expansion, even while covering up a brand-new spill from Line 6, another Enbridge pipeline in Wisconsin."
The presence of activists from across the Upper Midwest and Canada at today’s rally reflects the fact that Line 5 is part of a large network of pipelines extending across the United States and Canada. Canadian activists have begun to call on their government to cease their support of Line 5 and its sister Canadian pipeline, Line 9. In October 2023, activists shut down tanker traffic for several hours at an East Montreal terminal for tar sands oil from Line 9. Last year, the Montreal-based collective Le vivant se defend presented an Ultimatum to the Canadian government, committing to “a campaign of civil resistance that grows exponentially” if Canada does not take steps to shut down Line 9 by 2030. In October, two members of the group climbed the Jaques Cartier bridge in Montreal and hung a banner stating "Oil is killing us." Two people were arrested.
Olivier Huard, a Montreal-based activist with Le Vivant Se Defend who traveled to Madison for the rally, says the Canadian government must cease their support of Line 5 and Line 9, as well as other oil pipelines. “The North American pipeline network represents an incredible and unreasonable threat to the entire watershed of the Great Lakes, in addition to contributing to worsening the climate crisis every day. Canada must stop interfering in the democratic process of the State of Michigan and the sovereign territories of Indigenous nations, as this demonstrates a lack of respect for the will of the people. It is our duty to block any further expansion of oil infrastructure. We are in the 21st century, we are now in the era where we must deconstruct pipelines and not build new ones. Our collective future depends on it.”
Photo by Ian Phillips
###
The Cross Border Organizing Working Group and other supporting organizations are part of a grassroots network working to shut down Line 5 and protect the Great Lakes watershed. More information can be found at Communities United by Water’s website: https://communitiesunitedbywater.org/