Over 14,000 supporters, including over 11,500 Wisconsinites, joined a petition organized by the Wisconsin Jobs and Energy Coalition calling on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to issue the permits necessary to reroute a portion of the Line 5 pipeline in Bayfield, Ashland and Iron Counties. The petition was in response to a public comment period following the release of the Army Corps’ Line 5 relocation project Draft Environmental Assessment in May.
In addition to the thousands of petition signers, over three dozen of Wisconsin’s leading organizations representing labor, business, agriculture, and local governments, sent letters to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in support of the Line 5 relocation project. The diverse coalition included organizations such as Wisconsin Independent Businesses, the Wisconsin Building Trades Council, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, Wisconsin Counties Association, and the Wisconsin Ag Coalition.
Line 5 moves roughly 540,000 barrels of crude oil and natural gas liquids each day. Line 5 is unique because it not only moves crude oil that is refined into transportation fuels, but it also transports natural gas liquids that are made into propane.
The project to relocate 41 miles of Line 5 off the Bad River Band’s Reservation is estimated to create over 700 Wisconsin union construction jobs, pump $135 million into the local economy, and bring with it millions in additional tax revenue. Line 5’s owner, Enbridge, has signed a letter of intent with Wisconsin-based Michels Pipeline, Inc. as the mainline contractor for the project.
The petition and letters submitted during the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers public comment period that ends on Friday come two years after the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources held a similar public comment period on the Line 5 relocation. During the DNR public comment period, more than 11,500 Wisconsinites submitted comments urging the DNR to approve the project during a four-month DEIS public comment period in early 2002. An analysis of those comments, which were made public by the DNR, showed that by a 2-to-1 margin Wisconsinites supported the Line 5 relocation project.