Wednesday, November 20, 2024

Enbridge’s reroute of its Line 5 has attained the first of its permits in Wisconsin.

Happy Wednesday!

We love a follow-up and Enbridge’s Line 5 is in the news again.  We wrote about the Line 5 and the hurdles it has had to jump for the part which goes under the Straits of Mackinac back in May, and their ambitious plan for a tunnel (Please check out our Blog; it’s pretty cool!).  Well, they are in the news this time for the progress in approvals for the part which goes through Wisconsin.

Did anyone happen to read the Oil & Gas Journal’s Daily Update on November 18, 2024, their article titled, “Wisconsin agency approves two permits for Enbridge’s Line 5 reroute project”?  The article is on Enbridge’s Line 5, a 30-inch OD crude pipeline and the progress it is making on a 41-mile reroute.  Enbridge’s Line 5 has received the first of its approvals last week from Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resource (DNR) for its Waterway and Wetland Permits and WPDES Construction Site Storm Water General Permit.  Enbridge’s Line 5 was seeking approval for it to move its pipeline away from Bad River Reservation where it crossed the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians’ land.  The DNR Waterway and Wetland Permit has more than 200 conditions to make sure Wisconsin’s wetland and waterways criteria are met.  The WPDES Construction Site Storm Water General Permit gives Enbridge the approval to build the pipeline in its respective approved route.  Enbridge is seeking four more permits from the DNR which may include discharge of hydrostatic test water, dewatering of groundwater as well as others.  The DNR has given Enbridge three years to finish Line 5 reroute as well as have environmental monitors on the project, and the DNR has the right of entry during the project for checks.  Enbridge has applied for permits with the U.S. Army Corps (USACE) and are awaiting their approvals.  The seventy-year-old pipeline was court ordered to move off the Bad River Band’s reservation or shut down by a federal court in 2023 as well as the court awarded initially $5.15 million to the tribe which will increase every day the pipeline is operating on the tribe’s land.  We wish Enbridge luck in getting its Line 5 moved.  If we hear other good news on Enbridge’s Line 5 reroute, we will let you know!  If you would like more information on this article from Oil and Gas Journal, please click the links: Wisconsin agency approves two permits for Enbridge’s Line 5 reroute project | Oil & Gas Journal.

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We hope you have a great and productive week! 

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