This week, the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Midwest Environmental Advocates, and other partner organizations filed a new lawsuit in our ongoing fight to prevent the construction of the Line 5 reroute.
We filed the lawsuit after the DNR unlawfully issued permit approvals allowing Enbridge to do work at four stream crossings in Ashland County. The new lawsuit is separate from our broader challenge to DNR approvals for the Line 5 reroute, which remains pending in Bayfield County Circuit Court.
This legal action stems from an administrative law judge’s previous finding that Enbridge was not eligible for permits to do work at the four stream crossings because it did not own the affected properties.
Enbridge sought a workaround by changing its permit applications and acquiring property interests at three of the four crossing locations while apprently granting the original landowners options to repurchase their properties. We argue that those property transactions amounted to short-term leases of riparian rights, something that is not allowed under Wisconsin law.
This case, together with our broader challenge to DNR approvals for the Line 5 reroute, seeks to ensure that Wisconsin’s environmental laws are enforced and that Enbridge will not be allowed to move forward with construction unless it fully complies with state law.
