The text below is the testimony I had planned to give at the virtual public hearing on the Line 5 Reroute Draft Environmental Impact Statement on Wednesday, February 2, 2022. I was on the hearing for five hours and, being sick and having to work in the morning, gave up and went to bed. The hearing lasted over ten hours total, with 88% of testimony opposed to the project.
I have submitted my testimony as a written public comment. Public comments may be submitted through March 18, 2022 at DNROEEACOMMENTS@WI.GOV. Below the text is a list of resources for further education about Line 5.
My name is Carl Sack and I reside in Duluth, Minnesota. I also own property on the Marengo River in the Town of Lincoln, Bayfield County. I am here tonight to urge you to deny permits requested by Enbridge Energy, a Canadian company, for its Line 5 oil pipeline.
I appreciate the work of the civil servants at the DNR in preparing this Draft Environmental Impact Statement. However, there are some specific issues with the DEIS that I’d like to bring up.
First, the document gives short shrift to the “No Action” alternative and likely scenario in which the Bad River Band succeeds in its suit to decommission Line 5. This is the preferred outcome for all of the tribes who maintain treaty rights in the 1842 Ceded Territories. Its implications should be fully evaluated along with other alternatives in Sections 6 and 7, rather than as a separate afterthought in Section 9.
Further, if the state of Michigan succeeds in its efforts to remove Line 5 from the Straits of Mackinac, construction of the reroute and all of its associated damage will have been completely pointless. The DEIS does not discuss this scenario beyond mentioning Michigan’s litigation on the very last pages of the document.
The DEIS also does not substantively discuss the risks to the public from physical abuse by law enforcement working for Enbridge during construction. Section 6.6, on public safety, should describe the incidents of law enforcement officers brutalizing water protectors at last year’s Line 3 protests. Dozens of people were injured and hundreds were arrested while exercising their free speech rights. Local residents who take direct action to protect the water can expect similar treatment, plus the possibility of felony convictions under Act 33 that would tear apart families and ruin lives.
The discussion of project costs contains no indication of whether Enbridge plans to set up and fund a task force of law enforcement agencies like it did for Line 3. There, it reimbursed police over $2 million. Enbridge should state for the record whether it plans similar project costs for Line 5. Public safety personnel should work for the PUBLIC, not for a foreign corporation.
Enbridge Energy is a criminal enterprise. Rather than comply with the Bad River Band’s lawful request to remove Line 5 from its reservation, Enbridge has continued to illegally trespass on tribal lands since 2013. They simply don’t believe U.S. laws apply to them, except the laws they pay legislatures to write. Giving construction permits to Enbridge would be like handing out a liquor license to Al Capone.
The Bad River Band enjoys Treatment as State status under the Clean Water Act, and therefore may regulate any potential contamination of waterways upstream of the reservation. Band members rely on treaty-guaranteed resources that Line 5 puts at risk. The Band’s opposition alone should be considered a hard veto to granting any permits to Line 5.
The State of Wisconsin must act to uphold its treaty obligations with the Ojibwe Anishinaabe people, and to protect all state residents and our environment from bad actors like Enbridge. Thank you.
Line 5 Resources:
- Pipelines in the Ceded Territories story map by the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC)
- Line 5 resources from the Bad River Band of Ojibwe
- Line 5 information on StopLine3.org by Honor the Earth
- Line 5 information from the Sierra Club Wisconsin Chapter
- Line 5 in Wisconsin on RetireLine5.org
- Wisconsin League of Women Voters Line 5 resolution
- Clean Wisconsin: Stop the Line 5 Oil Pipeline information
- Guide to the EIS process for pipelines in Wisconsin (PDF) by Midwest Environmental Advocates
- Line 5 Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) from the Wisconsin DNR