Line 5 opponents submit 150,000 comments on Enbridge's reroute project near Lake Superior

If a picture's worth a thousand words, what are 154,000 comments worth?

The Great Lakes region − on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border − may soon find out.

Interested parties have until Aug. 30 to submit comments on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' environmental assessment of Enbridge's proposed Line 5 reroute project . And on Wednesday, tribal leaders, faith organizations, farmers, public health experts, businesses and environmental groups held a press conference to shine a spotlight on the controversial project.

People from nearly every state have submitted comments, according to information from EarthJustice, an environmental law nonprofit organization. The nonprofit law organization stated that more than 154,000 comments were submitted through six nonprofit organizations, and the number will likely climb as more organizations make their numbers publicly available.

Enbridge, the Calgary-based pipeline and energy giant, proposed a 41-mile reroute around the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa's land in 2020, but it has yet to be permitted by any agency. The pipeline must be removed from the Bad River Band's land by June 2026, as designated by court order.

What comes next depends on the Army Corps. The agency will review the comments, and if it finds that the environmental impacts would be significant, the reroute project will need a federal environmental impact statement, a move that will push the oil company closer to its deadline to remove the pipeline from the Band's land.

The reroute would sit just outside the Band's reservation and even further upstream of many waterways that flow through the Band's land into Lake Superior, which holds roughly 10% of the world's surface freshwater.

Robert Blanchard, chairman for the Bad River Band, said during the press conference that the Band doesn't want the continued threat that Line 5 poses to the Band's land, waterways, fisheries, wild rice beds as well as Lake Superior.

Others at the press conference also talked about how the reroute project locks the country into a future with fossil fuels, the known driver of human-caused climate change. They also called on Governor Tony Evers and the federal government to stop the reroute project from moving forward.

“Line 5 is an investment in a future that doesn’t exist anymore,” said Isak Drangstveit, a freshman at UW-Madison who is activist with Action for the Climate Emergency.

Alexander Waters, a beef farmer near Ashland, explained that Line 5 runs through his land. Waters said Enbridge has been difficult to deal with and he worries about the dozens of spills that have occurred across the length of pipeline.

"Enbridge has not been a very good company to host," Waters said.

According to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration database, Line 5 has leaked 35 times in its roughly 70-year tenure and released a total of more than 1.13 million gallons of oil into the environment.

Line 5 supporters are also making their voices heard. More than 14,000 Line 5 supporters signed a petition organized by the Wisconsin Jobs and Energy Coalition, calling on the Army Corps to issue the reroute permits. According to the coalition, more than three dozen Wisconsin organizations that represent labor, business and agriculture sent letters to the federal agency outlining their support.

More: Along Wisconsin's northern shores, Line 5 continues to pit tribal culture against Big Oil

More: Controversy, legal fights over Line 5 pipeline keep it in the news. We break the issues down.

The new 41-mile stretch of pipeline would go south of the Bad River Band’s land further inland into Ashland and Iron counties. It would go through Iron County State Forest, around Copper Falls State Forest and cross more than 180 Lake Superior tributaries , including the Bad River. It's estimated to cost $450 million .

The Army Corps of Engineers review is a requirement under the Clean Water Act. It released a draft of its environmental assessment earlier this year, drawing eight hours of contentious testimony during the public hearings.

During the hearings, twice as many people spoke out against the reroute project as they did for it.

The reroute project is estimated to have a $135 million economic impact in northern Wisconsin, creating jobs for 700 workers with a total labor income of $27.5 million, according to the oil company. But some would argue that tourism is a bigger economic driver. Together, Bayfield and Ashland counties brought in nearly $160 million in 2023, according to the Wisconsin Department of Tourism.

More: As Lake Superior wetlands become more vulnerable, tribe fears cultural guideposts could slip away

The deadline looms for Enbridge

Five years after the Band first filed its lawsuit against the Canadian company, litigation surrounding the case is ongoing.

In 2019, the Band filed a lawsuit against Enbridge to get the Line 5 pipeline removed from its land. The fossil fuel company has been operating the pipeline illegally on 12 miles of the Band's land for more than a decade. In 2013, tribal officials with the Band chose not to renew the easement for fear of environmental damage from the aging pipeline.

In June 2023, a federal judge ordered that Enbridge must remove the pipeline from the tribe's land within three years or face a shutdown. Both sides appealed the decision last year, and the federal appeals court heard oral arguments in February. A decision by the appellate court is expected later this year.

While there are less than two years are left to meet the June 2026 deadline, Enbridge told the Journal Sentinel this month that the company is confident it will meet that deadline.

More: Great Lakes tribes teach 'water is life.’ But they’re forced to fight for a voice in safeguarding it.

Caitlin Looby is a Report for America corps member who writes about the environment and the Great Lakes. Reach her at clooby@gannett.com or follow her on X @caitlooby .

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Line 5 opponents submit 150,000 comments on Enbridge's reroute project near Lake Superior