Indigenous Leaders, Local Communities, and Environmental Groups Take Action to Urge an Immediate Shut Down of Line 5
August 6th march in Superior, Wisconsin calling for Line 5 shutdown. Photo by John Krumm
SUPERIOR, WI — On August 5th and 6th, Indigenous leaders, local communities, and environmental groups took action along the banks of the Nemadji River in Superior, Wisconsin and Fish Creek in Ashland, Wisconsin to call for immediate steps to shutdown Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline.
Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline was originally built in 1953, and continues to operate nearly 20 years past its engineered lifespan, transporting crude oil through northern Wisconsin, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and under the Straits of Mackinac, posing a serious threat to the Great Lakes region which holds one-fifth of the world's surface freshwater. Already, Line 5 has spilled over 30 times, dumping more than a million gallons of oil.
This weekend’s actions are the latest in a series amplifying the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and allies’ call for an emergency closure of the pipeline due to extreme ongoing erosion at Mashkiiziibii (Bad River) meander, upstream of Gichigami (Lake Superior).
On Saturday, residents held a flotilla action and rally in Ashland, Wisconsin in support of the Bad River Band and all those in the Bad River Watershed and ceded territory who are opposing Enbridge’s proposed 41-mile reroute of Line 5. The route crosses more than 100 rivers and streams that flow into the Bad River Reservation, and construction alone could devastate the tribe’s vast wild rice beds and fisheries on Lake Superior.
Along the highway, residents held the “We Stand” Mural, a 6ft x 48ft art exhibition created in the Superior lakeshore community with dozens of people participating, ages 8-94.
Time lapse of participants launching canoes at Fish Creek near Ashland, WI and holding the “We Stand” mural, calling for Line 5 shutdown.
At the Sunday event in Superior, organizers held a march, flotilla action, and community water festival on the Nemadji River to bring attention to the importance of Indigenous sovereignty and rights, water protection, the climate crisis, the history of Enbridge and Line 5, and ongoing efforts to shut down the pipeline permanently.
A federal court filing shows that a shut down of Line 5 would raise gas prices by only a half penny. Additionally, the International Energy Agency has repeatedly called for the end of fossil fuel expansion to keep global warming below 1.5°C, thus allowing the continued operation of the pipeline does not align with the climate targets of the Paris Climate Agreement.
"Line 5 crosses over tribal treaty territory and one of those ceded territories is my own reservation of Bad River. The danger that Line 5 brings to the environment is our biggest concern here. Our historical homelands, cultural resources, subsistence, wild rice, medicines, fisheries, and water are in jeopardy of an imminent catastrophic oil spill. An oil spill into the Bad River waterways which leads into Lake Superior puts the entire Great Lakes ecosystem at great risk that would cause irreparable destruction,” stated Rene Ann Goodrich, Bad River Tribal Elder and Organizer with Native Lives Matter Coalition.
“We came together this weekend as a community and as one collective voice as a testament to the importance of Indigenous sovereignty and rights, and to protecting our water. We have a need, we have a responsibility, we have a duty to protect our life givers. Our life givers are the earth, the aquifers underneath the earth, the women that are sacred water carriers, and water itself that brings life. We urge the Biden Administration to take action and shut down Line 5 immediately!”
Organizers of the actions include Native Lives Matter Great Lakes, Communities United by Water, Honor the Earth, Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN), Seek Joy, 350 WI and 350.org, Sierra Club, Northwoods Socialist Collective, and many other members of the Line 5 coalition.
Please find photos, a livestream of Sunday’s rally, and additional resources at the links below:
MEDIA CONTACT
Katherine Quaid, Women's Earth and Climate Action Network, katherine@wecaninternational.org