A federal judge is ordering a Canadian energy firm to pay $5.1 million for trespassing on a northern Wisconsin tribe's reservation and remove its oil and gas pipeline from lands it's illegally operating on within three years.
The decision comes nearly four years after the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa filed a federal lawsuit against Enbridge Inc. to shut down and remove its Line 5 pipeline from the reservation. The company's easements on a dozen parcels of land expired in 2013, and the tribe refused to renew them. Last fall, U.S. District Judge William Conley ruled Enbridge has been trespassing on the Bad River reservation, entitling the tribe to a financial remedy.
The nearly 70 year-old Line 5 carries up to 23 million gallons of light crude oil and natural gas liquids each day over a 645-mile span from Superior across northern Wisconsin and Michigan to Sarnia, Ontario.
The tribe sued Enbridge over fears that erosion could threaten to expose and rupture the pipeline, and concerns over the line’s safety have only heightened in recent weeks as spring flooding increased erosion on the Bad River’s banks near Line 5. The pipeline is now only 11 feet from the river at an area known as the meander.
In an order issued Friday, Conley said a rupture of the pipeline at the meander is a public nuisance and that current conditions create an unreasonable risk of failure. However, he said the threat of rupture is not imminent enough to require an immediate shutdown.
Conley ordered Enbridge to adopt its plan with minor changes within 21 days that would require preparation to purge the pipeline of product if two markers within 10 feet of Line 5 are lost due to erosion. The pipeline would be purged and shut down if a 60-foot span of pipe became unsupported. The company would also have to pay a portion of its profits to the tribe for as long as the pipeline continues to operate in trespass.
An Enbridge spokesperson said in a statement Saturday that it agreed with the court's decision that Line 5 should not be immediately shut down, but the company disputed that it is trespassing on the tribe’s lands. Enbridge also disagreed that the pipeline must stop operating on the reservation within three years.
"Enbridge’s position has long been that a 1992 contract between Enbridge and the Band provides legal permission for the line to remain in its current location. Enbridge plans to appeal the Court's decision," Enbridge spokesperson Juli Kellner said.
Enbridge said the company is considering all its options, which include seeking to place a hold on the judge's ruling pending its appeal.
The company has proposed multiple projects to reduce erosion near its pipeline on the Bad River reservation, including a project to place sandbags along the river's banks. The Bad River Tribal Council rejected a permit for the project June 7 as part of its authority under the Clean Water Act.
Bad River Tribal Chairman Mike Wiggins, Jr. did not immediately respond to a request for comment. This month, he told WPR the project failed to meet the tribe's water quality standards. At the time, he said the tribe's lawsuit and ongoing efforts have been about protecting the tribe.
Source: wpr.org
Photo Credit: Flickr - Maureen
Categories: Wisconsin, Energy