Every year around August, when temperatures in the Great Lakes region rise, wild rice – or Manoomin in the Ojibwe language – begins to bloom. Rice stalks in shallow water can grow up to 10 feet tall, and harvesting is done using sticks and poles that drop the seeds into boats or canoes. Each year the harvest is critical to the Ojibwe.
But those waters are under threat as Canadian oil transportation company Enbridge hopes. redirect the controversial Line 5 pipeline, which runs through major logging areas. Now the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, one of six Ojibwe bands in northern Wisconsin, filed a lawsuit against the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to stop construction.
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“For hundreds of years and to this day, ancestors and tribal members have lived, hunted, fished, trapped, gathered, and engaged in traditional activities in the wetlands and waters that the project would cross,” the lawsuit states.
In October, USACE provided Enbridge permission build a 41-mile extension to Line 5 to bypass the Bad River Reservation, but Earthjustice, the nonprofit litigation organization representing the tribe, argues the permit does not comply with the National Environmental Policy Act and the Clean Water Act. Earthjustice says the pipeline would cross waterways that feed into the Bad River Reservation, and leaks would threaten the watershed and ecosystem needed for wild rice harvests and fisheries. After largest oil spill on land from Enbridge pipelines in the USA in 2010 – flooding of more than million gallons into the Kalamazoo River in Michigan—last year saw the largest spill in Wisconsin history. The company reported approximately 69,000 gallons oil spilled onto the ground near a rural town in the south of the state. The spill was initially reported to be two gallons; A month passed before the public officially learned of the size of the spill.
Line 5 worked for more than 70 years old and became a major legal battle for several tribal nations in the Great Lakes region. In the 1950s, the company installed 12 miles pipeline across the 124,655-acre reservation to transport oil from western Canada to eastern Canada. Despite treaty 1854 who established a permanent reservation territory and treaty of 1842While enshrining hunting, gathering and fishing rights, the company has not entered into negotiations with the tribe over the location of the pipeline.
In 2019, the Bad River Band sued Enbridge stop work on his land by ordering the company to remove the pipeline from the reservation. Federal judge in 2023 supported nation, ruling that the company had three years to remove its property from the reservation and pay compensation. $5.1 million fine for trespassing. The tribe said the proposed 41-mile extension would impact at least 70 different waterways because Enbridge would have to use explosives and horizontal drilling to build the extension.
“Oil and gas contribute to pollution in different ways, and the Trump administration is focused on energy dominance,” said Gussie Lord, a member of the Oneida Nation and an Earthjustice attorney. “He's taken renewable energy out of the equation as much as possible, and I think it's just a backwards-looking book.”
USACE conducted a study last year under the Biden administration. environmental assessment along the proposed route rather than an environmental impact study. An environmental assessment allows for a quicker review, while environmental impact studies are more thorough and require more time and resources to assess the impact of a project. They also allow for consultation with tribal nations to determine whether a project violates treaty rights, cultural resources or access to clean water.
In neighboring Michigan, Enbridge is also pitted against tribal nations and government officials to manage nearly 5 mile pipeline section under the Great Lakes to replace a 72-year-old section of Line 5. This month, a federal judge blocked Michigan from enforcing the pipeline shutdown order, ruling that pipeline safety is a federal, not state, responsibility. In March, the army corps expedited permitting for a segment led by the Trump administration energy emergency declarationallowing the agency to circumvent regulatory laws such as the National Environmental Policy Act. Soon after this, seven tribal nations withdrew from discussions, citing the federal government's failure to engage with tribal governments.
At this time, the original authorization has not been signed or finalized by USACE. “Until the authorization is signed, USACE takes no final agency action subject to judicial review,” An Enbridge spokesman said.. “Enbridge will take steps to intervene in the litigation and defend the pending USACE permitting decision.” In Wisconsin, the Bad River Band has also filed a lawsuit against the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources over the state permit it issued in August to build Enbridge.
Gussie Lord of Earthjustice said the trial will be difficult, but adds that the Bad River Band feels it is their responsibility to protect the area's watershed and environment.
“We need people who will think about what makes sense in the future, not just 10 years from now, but 50, 100 years from now,” Lord said.
