The clock is ticking on Enbridge. In 2023, a Federal Court ordered Enbridge to shut down and remove the pipeline, and the Judge gave Enbridge 3 years to do it. At the time, oil industry experts were clear that with at least 18 months' notice, the industry could adjust and there would be little to no impact at the gas pump. We’re now less than 4 months away, and Enbridge still doesn’t have a decommissioning plan. Instead, they are begging the courts to delay the shutdown order and doing whatever they can to keep the oil flowing, and forcing Wisconsin and the Great Lakes to assume all the risk.
Read on for updates about court cases, community action, and concerns about Line 5.
Administrative Law Judge Upholds Line 5 permit
Earlier this month, the Administrative Law Judge upheld the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ decision to grant permits for the proposed reroute of the Enbridge Line 5 oil pipeline. Read this excellent letter-to-the-editor about what a bad decision this was.
However, the fight is very much alive in the courts. Last Friday, the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa appealed this decision and asked the court to ensure that Enbridge doesn’t start construction until the challenge is heard. On Monday, the Sierra Club and our partners at the Midwest Environmental Advocates, Clean Wisconsin, 350 Wisconsin, and the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin filed a similar appeal of the decision and supported the Bad River Band’s request for a pause on construction.
Our petition, as well as the Bad River Band’s, demonstrated all the evidence from the case that clearly shows significant risks to wetlands, water quality, and treaty-protected resources, and that the permitting process did not meet state environmental laws. The Judge may rule very soon on whether to pause construction. Enbridge is desperately asking the court to allow construction to move forward.
Enbridge asks to stop and remove the shutdown clock, despite the risks.
Three years after a federal court ordered Enbridge to end its 13-year trespass of Line 5 across the Reservation of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa by June 16, 2026, the company is now asking the court to erase that shutdown deadline and allow the pipeline to continue operating indefinitely on Tribal land.
The Band has forcefully opposed that request, submitting sworn declarations detailing the environmental damage, community strain, and sovereign rights at stake—making clear that this is not a harmless occupation, but a prolonged violation that has burdened their people and waters for years. While Enbridge attempts to delay accountability, the Band remains steadfast in defending its treaty rights, its watershed, and the next seven generations—showing remarkable resilience and resolve as the case moves forward and the June 2026 deadline still stands. Here are some highlights from the testimony:
“Our community and future have been on hold, held hostage by a company that has been playing a full court press offense against us from the beginning,” said Elizabeth Arbuckle, Chairwoman of the Bad River Band, in the declaration filed to oppose Enbridge’s stay motion. “Our only option has been to play defense against one of the most well-funded, expertly staffed and unrelenting corporations in existence, a company which ultimately refuses to recognize our right to exercise sovereign control over the only remaining homeland we have.”“To protect the Bad River from Enbridge’s Line 5 occupation and trespass, and imminent failure, the Band allowed Enbridge to move forward with a Log Jack Project to stop the river's natural erosion and flow,” said Naomi Tillison, Director, Mashkiiziibii Natural Resources Department of the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians in a separate declaration. “These activities resulted in pollution to numerous Reservation waters, impacts to wildlife (including protected species such as bald eagles, trumpeter swans, and wood turtles), expansion of invasive species, loss of habitat, and other environmental consequences.”
The Midwest Environmental Advocates filed our own brief in this case, on behalf of Sierra Club and our partners to oppose Enbridge’s ask to stop the shut down order. Enbridge had 3 years to make plans to shut down Line 5. They should not be rewarded for their failure to do so.
As construction looms, residents raise concerns.
Enbridge is taking final steps for construction, and local residents in Ashland and Bayfield Counties are taking notes.
Enbridge is asking to pay Ashland and Bayfield Counties to police protests around construction of the pipeline. During the construction of Line 3 in Minnesota in 2021, Enbridge set up a similar agreement to fund local law enforcement and paid over $8.6 million to police and other agencies in Minnesota, including more than $5.8 million to fund police and sheriff’s offices from planning through construction. Enbridge is looking to do the same thing again now with Ashland and Bayfield police departments– pay for the arrests of its opponents.
The article Documents show how a pipeline company paid Minnesota millions to police protests outlines many of these and here are a few key points:
- Hundreds of protesters protecting the water were arrested (many charges were eventually dropped)
- Police submitted hundreds of receipts and invoices totaling $8.6 million.
- Some reimbursements were directly tied to violence against women by pipeline workers
Wisconsin’s Felony Trespass Bill also makes policing protesters more dangerous, making it a felony to trespass or damage property on land “owned, operated, or leased” by energy companies, including pipelines.
The Ashland County Board voted 10-7 to accept the agreement. Some expressed dismay that they felt they must vote yes, though they didn’t want to. Some even shed tears. The Bayfield County Board took the opposite approach and denied the agreement with Enbridge on a 10-2 vote. Many, including the District Attorney, had grave concerns about the contract. Thank you to the Bayfield County Board for carefully considering and denying this request.
Enbridge is also asking the City of Ironwood and Ashland to buy water for the pipeline installation. In late December, an article was published that discusses an agreement between the Ironwood City Commission and Enbridge for water use during construction of the proposed Line 5 reroute. It mentions that Enbridge has also been talking to the City of Ashland about the same thing, and there's been growing pushback on this proposal.
In February of 2020, the City of Ashland passed a resolution in support of the efforts of the Bad River Band to remove Line 5 from the Bad River watershed. Denying Enbridge's request with water aligns with this goal. During the construction on Line 3 in Minnesota, Enbridge requested to withdraw up to 5 billion gallons of water during an extreme drought, raising concerns about what they may do if the Line 5 reroute is constructed.
Learn more and get involved in the effort to shut down Line 5 at an upcoming event:
March 4 in Madison- Stop by Ian's Pizza at Garver Feed Mill on Wednesday, March 4, to view an exhibit of origami fish from last year's world-record-breaking display. Plus, socialize with other Sierrans and enjoy a slice of Ian's pizza. Ian's will donate a portion of all sales from the evening to support our work. This event is a celebration of our work to stop tar sands pipeline expansion and a wrap-up of our Big Share fundraiser.
If you order carry-out or delivery, mention Sierra Club or add “Sierra Club” after your name if you order pizza and a portion will go to support our work. RSVPs here are not required, but appreciated.
- April 21 in La Crosse- Why should we shut down Line 5? Collaging Party- Get updates and some background on what Line 5 is and why we care about it, and then we’ll spend some time collaging or writing around the prompt “what’s important to you to protect?” The event will take place in the Cafe in the lower level of the UW-La Crosse Student Union for April 21st at 5:00 pm.
- Coming Soon in River Falls- the Latest on Line 5- Get updates and learn more about what’s happening with Line 5.
While Enbridge digs in and fights to keep Line 5 alive amid the high-stakes legal and political battles unfolding across Wisconsin, an equally consequential fight is intensifying in Michigan, where the future of the pipeline and the impractical tunnel proposal are also being challenged on multiple fronts.
U.S. Supreme Court hears Enbridge’s ask to avoid state protections of our water
On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Enbridge Energy v. Nessel, a pivotal case in Michigan’s long struggle to shut down the aging Line 5 oil pipeline beneath the Straits of Mackinac, with legal teams from both sides arguing in Washington. This is in response to Attorney General Dana Nessel's lawsuit, which argues that Line 5 violates the public trust because a 72-year-old pipeline carrying Canadian oil across Michigan's lakebed for a Canadian corporation's private profit isn't a legitimate public use, and the catastrophic risk it poses to drinking water for 40 million people fundamentally impairs the public's rights to clean water.
At the heart of the dispute is a procedural question—whether Enbridge properly moved the case from Michigan state court to federal court—but the stakes are much broader, because the outcome could shape how and where states can enforce environmental protections against dangerous fossil fuel infrastructure. Tribal leaders, environmental advocates, and elected officials are watching closely, knowing that a decision here could influence not just Line 5’s future, but how communities defend their waters and rights against corporate delay tactics nationwide.
Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy to open comment period on the tunnel
The Trump administration is poised to approve Enbridge’s proposed oil tunnel beneath the Straits of Mackinac, a project critics call an unnecessary and risky expansion of Line 5 that would bring years of disruptive construction and potential harm to wetlands, wildlife, tourism, and Tribal communities. The tunnel would extend the life of the aging pipeline for decades rather than eliminate the threat of a catastrophic spill in the Great Lakes. While the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has fast-tracked the project, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) will soon accept public comments about whether to greenlight or reject the proposal. Over 92,000 comments called on a denial of the tunnel during the last comment period. We’ll need to make sure the response to this comment period is as loud and clear.
Michigan Supreme Court to hear challenge to tunnel permits next month
The Michigan Supreme Court is now set to hear legal challenges to a key permit that would allow Enbridge to build its proposed Line 5 oil pipeline tunnel beneath the Straits of Mackinac, as environmental groups and Tribal Nations argue the permit violated state environmental law and the public trust doctrine. Arguments in the case are scheduled for March 11, and the court’s decision could influence whether the tunnel moves forward under Michigan law.
If you’d like to support our work to shut down Line 5, you can make a donation here. It’s a decisive time for Line 5 and your donation is really appreciated.