Line 5 reopens after spill despite DNR warning

The Line 5 oil and natural gas pipeline across northern Wisconsin went back online Monday, three weeks after a broken valve caused 1.3 million gallons of natural gas liquids to spill into the nearby Iron County town of Saxon, the pipeline’s operator Enbridge said in a news release. 

The spill occurred Aug. 25 when a truck rolled forward and broke the valve as crews worked on the controversial reroute of Line 5’s path across the state from Canada. Enbridge immediately began working to bypass the broken valve and get the pipeline back up and running despite warnings from the state Department of Natural Resources that it was doing that construction without the proper permitting. 

The DNR issued a notice of noncompliance to Enbridge last week ordering it to halt its work. Despite that warning, Enbridge completed the work and said in its news release that “work continues at the site focused on safe access, environmental testing and remediation.” The company said it has worked closely with federal and local agencies to protect health and safety and that “we continue to work” with the DNR on the “relevant permitting and separately on environmental conditions at the incident site.” 

“Ongoing environmental monitoring at the site continues,” Enbridge stated. “Wildlife has not been impacted. Testing of surface water and from a nearby residential well continues to show no impacts. Water monitoring wells continue to show no contamination. Soil and water monitoring are in place, as are plans to test, remove and properly dispose of the soil in the trench.”

Since the spill, the company has argued it needs to get the pipeline back up and running as soon as possible because the fossil fuels it transports are too important. 

“Line 5 is critical infrastructure, securely supplying 10 refineries and propane production facilities that deliver energy to millions of people in the Midwest and Great Lakes regions,” the company news release states. 

Meanwhile, environmental activists, members of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and elected officials have continued to argue that the spill is confirmation that the pipeline has always been a risk to Wisconsin’s environment and should be permanently shut down.