Enbridge Wins Key US Permit for Line 5 Oil Pipeline Reroute Around Bad River Reservation | Columbus Ohio Dump Trucks

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has approved a request from energy developer Enbridge Inc. to relocate a section of its Line 5 oil pipeline around the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians reservation in northern Wisconsin. 

The decision concludes a four-year-plus federal review under the federal Clean Water Act, Section 404, and the Rivers and Harbors Act, Section 10. The agency said it evaluated the application “in accordance with all applicable environmental and tribal consultation requirements” before issuing the permit.

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Enbridge will replace about 20 mi of existing line—including 12 mi across the reservation—with a new 41-mi, 30-in-diameter segment through Ashland, Bayfield, and Iron counties. The corridor crosses forest, wetlands and the Bad River watershed, where glacial soils and high groundwater complicate construction. 

Federal and state reviews cite erosion and settlement risks in peat and silt deposits; Enbridge plans trench boxes, matting, and horizontal directional drilling at wetland and stream crossings to limit disturbance.

Environmental Risks and Tribal Opposition

“The Line 5 Wisconsin Segment Relocation Project will not have measurable impacts to Bad River Band water-quality standards,” Enbridge environmental manager Joe McGaver told regulators, citing erosion control and post-construction monitoring plans. 

Ray Wuolo, a hydrogeologist at Barr Engineering, added that hydrologic connectivity between the reroute and the reservation “is indirect, except at stream crossings,” and that any effects would be localized and short-term.

Foam trench breakers are installed along Enbridge’s Line 5 oil line corridor to prevent erosion and control groundwater flow—one of several stabilization techniques cited in the company’s plan to limit wetland disturbance during the Wisconsin Segment Relocation.
Photo courtesy of Enbridge Inc.

However, the Bad River Band’s own technical filings challenge that conclusion. In its EPA 401(a)(2) rebuttal comments to the US Environmental Protection Agency, the tribe wrote that Enbridge’s modeling “fails to demonstrate the absence of connection between the reroute footprint and waters of the Reservation” and warned that “wetland losses and increased runoff could degrade water-quality conditions that support wild rice.”

A 2025 mapping study by the Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission found that updated lidar data expanded mapped wetlands in the project area by more than 200%, suggesting greater hydrologic connectivity than Enbridge’s original analysis.

Enbridge disputed those findings in its formal environmental presentation to federal and state regulators, where Wuolo said modeling showed “no direct surface-water connection between the reroute footprint and the Bad River Reservation other than at controlled stream crossings.” 

Wuolo told the Corps and the Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources that construction impacts “will be localized and short-term, generally measured in days,” and post-construction restoration “will return pre-construction hydrology within one growing season,” according to Enbridge’s regulatory filing.

Michels Pipeline Inc., a division of Brownsville-based contractor Michels Corp., will build the new segment under a project-labor agreement signed with four trade unions in 2022. Enbridge has not provided updated cost or schedule details; state filings previously placed the investment at about $450 million.

ENR requested additional project information from Enbridge but did not receive a response before press time.

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Federal filings show the project will permanently fill 0.02 acre of wetlands and temporarily disturb roughly 101 acres. The Wisconsin department's final environmental impact statement deemed the relocation “the least environmentally damaging practicable alternative” and issued a water-quality certification in November 2024, now under court challenge.

The Bad River Band continues to oppose the project, stating that the relocation does not eliminate environmental or treaty rights risks. Attempts by ENR to reach the tribe for more details were unsuccessful before press time.

“Continued operation and relocation of Line 5 threatens our waters, wild rice, and treaty-protected resources,” the tribe wrote in 2022. The Band has not yet issued a formal statement on the Corps’ approval, but has indicated it will continue to pursue legal remedies.

Line 5 has been in operation since 1953, carrying up to 540,000 barrels per day from Superior, Wisc., through Michigan to Sarnia, Ontario. Enbridge says the Wisconsin reroute will reduce risk by removing the line from reservation land while maintaining regional energy supply.

“The Corps’ decision demonstrates our commitment to balancing national energy needs with protection of the environment and consultation with tribal nations,” the St. Paul District said in its permit announcement.

Bryan Gottlieb is the online editor at Engineering News-Record (ENR).

Gottlieb is a five-time Society of Professional Journalists Excellence in Journalism award winner with more than a decade of experience covering business, construction and dump trucks columbus oh community issues. He has worked at Adweek, managed a dump trucks columbus oh community newsroom in Santa Monica, Calif., and reported on finance, law and real estate for the San Diego Daily Transcript. He later served as editor-in-chief of the Detroit Metro Times and was managing editor at Roofing Contractor, where he helped shape national industry coverage. Gottlieb covers breaking news, large-scale infrastructure projects, new products and business trends across the construction sector.

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