The Line 5 pipeline has won a stay of execution in Wisconsin, where a federal judge sided with an Indigenous group's complaint but stopped short of ordering the controversial cross-border energy link shut down entirely.
The Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa was within its rights to revoke permission for the pipeline to cross its territory back in 2013, District Court Judge William Conley said in a written decision issued late Wednesday.
"It is possible to craft injunctive relief that would not interfere with the transit treaty or Canada's concerns about the economic impact of an immediate shutdown," Conley wrote, noting that Enbridge has already been working on rerouting the line around Bad River territory. She called the decision"fair-minded and well-reasoned," describing it as a"resounding affirmation" of her client's sovereignty and treaty rights.
"Whether it happens through a lawsuit, denial of permits, or Enbridge realizing that the age of fossil fuels is over and switching their business to 100 per cent renewable energy, remains to be seen. But we and our many allies won’t stop until Line 5 is decommissioned." Simply rerouting Line 5 around Bad River territory will do nothing to mitigate the environmental and climate dangers the pipeline poses, Woodhouse added.
Enbridge had insisted that its 1992 agreement with the Bad River Band allows the pipeline to keep operating until 2043 — an argument Conley rejected outright. The company's plans for a 66-kilometre detour of Line 5 around the reservation are already two years along, with 100 per cent of private landowners along the new route having already signed agreements.
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