Overview:
A federal appeals court has ruled that Enbridge Energy continues to trespass on the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa’s reservation in northern Wisconsin, affirming that the company must remove its Line 5 pipeline from Tribal lands while giving it additional time to complete a reroute.
A federal appeals court has upheld a landmark ruling that Enbridge Energy is trespassing on the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa’s reservation in northern Wisconsin, reinforcing Tribal sovereignty while requiring the Canadian pipeline company to relocate its controversial Line 5 pipeline.
In a decision issued Thursday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed that Enbridge has been unlawfully operating portions of its Line 5 pipeline across Tribal lands after easements on several parcels expired in 2013. The court agreed that the company must remove the pipeline from the reservation but sent the case back to the lower court to establish a new timeline for the reroute and recalculate monetary damages.
The Bad River Band sued Enbridge in 2019 after negotiations to remove the pipeline failed. The Tribe has argued that the aging pipeline poses a serious environmental threat to the Bad River watershed and Lake Superior, particularly as erosion along the Bad River has brought portions of the pipeline closer to the riverbank.
The appeals court rejected Enbridge’s challenge to the finding that it is trespassing on Tribal land, making clear that the company cannot continue operating indefinitely without the Tribe’s consent. Writing for the three-judge panel, Circuit Judge Michael Scudder stated, “Make no mistake: Enbridge must remove the pipeline from the Band’s land.” However, the court determined that the original three-year deadline imposed by the district court did not adequately account for the broader public consequences of shutting down the pipeline, including impacts on regional energy supplies and obligations under a 1977 U.S.-Canada transit pipeline treaty.
The court also vacated a previous $5.15 million damages award, finding that the district court had improperly calculated restitution by counting some of Enbridge’s financial benefits twice. The lower court must now recalculate the amount owed while considering the company’s continuing trespass and other factors identified by the appeals court.
Line 5, built in 1953, transports up to 540,000 barrels of crude oil and natural gas liquids each day from western Canada through Wisconsin and Michigan before ending in Ontario. The pipeline has long been opposed by the Bad River Band and numerous Tribal Nations, which argue that a spill could devastate culturally significant wild rice beds, fisheries, waterways, and other natural resources central to the Tribe’s way of life.
The ruling marks another significant legal victory for the Bad River Band in its years-long effort to protect its reservation from the risks posed by the aging pipeline while reaffirming the Tribe’s authority over its sovereign lands.
