At a hearing scheduled for Thursday, April 16*, an Iron County Circuit Court judge is expected to decide whether to halt construction activities of Enbridge’s proposed Line 5 pipeline reroute pending the outcome of a lawsuit filed by environmental groups and the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.
The hearing marks the latest development in an ongoing legal battle over state permits for the controversial project. Most recently, environmental groups filed a petition for judicial review and a motion for a temporary stay after an administrative law judge upheld the permits in February.
The petition for judicial review was filed by Clean Wisconsin and nonprofit law firm Midwest Environmental Advocates (MEA), which represents Sierra Club, 350 Wisconsin and the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin. The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, represented by Earthjustice, filed a similar petition.
The groups are challenging the permits because state regulators did not properly apply Wisconsin’s environmental laws and failed to fully account for the environmental harm the project would cause. A stay would give the court time to review those legal questions without putting Wisconsin’s wetlands and waterways at risk of irreparable harm.
Another significant obstacle facing Enbridge is the fact that it has not obtained all of the state permits it needs to complete the reroute. The same administrative law judge who upheld most of DNR’s permit decisions in February ordered Enbridge to reapply for permits to do work at four stream crossings. To date, the company has failed to secure the necessary property interests at the four proposed project locations to be eligible for the permits. Despite this, Enbridge has reapplied for the four permits, which will be the subject of a public hearing on April 22.
*The hearing will mainly be conducted in person at the Bayfield County Courthouse. A live video feed will be available for viewing at the Iron County Courthouse. No virtual access will be provided. More details are available here.
