Chippewa Tribe Kicking Enbridge, and Great Lakes Underwater Tar Sands Pipeline, Off Reservation - EnviroNews | The Environmental News Specialists

Chippewa Tribe Kicking Enbridge, and Great Lakes Underwater Tar Sands Pipeline, Off Reservation

(EnviroNews USA Headline News) — Odanah, Bad River Reservation, Wisconsin — On January 4, 2016, the tribal council of The Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians, a federally recognized tribe of the Ojibwe, voted not to renew an easement that allowed an Enbridge pipeline to pass through its reservation. Enbridge is a Canadian energy delivery company that focuses on operating pipelines in Canada and North America, and its easement on the contested 11 parcels of land expired in 2013.

Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline has been in operation for 64 years and carries over 500,000 barrels of tar sands oil and propane daily between Wisconsin and Ontario. The tribe’s resolution declares the pipeline must be shut down and removed. Twin Cities Pioneer Press reports, “The resolution also directs tribal staff to prepare recycling, disposal and surface restoration work that would come with removal.” Inside Climate News explains that while other pipelines through Native American Lands have been closed or updated through negotiations with tribes, a re-routing would be unprecedented.

Much like the protestors who led the powerful and largely successful campaign against the Dakota Access Pipeline Project (DAPL), The Bad River Band cites environmental concerns as a central factor to their stance against this pipeline.

“[Line 5 is] an accident waiting to happen. A spill from the pipeline could affect land and water that the tribal members rely on for hunting, fishing, and gathering wild rice,” said Robert Blanchard, Chairman of the Bad River band. “If something were to happen, no matter how big or how small, it’s going to have an effect on us,” Blanchard continued. “We figure that now is the time to do something about it.”

Enbridge spokesman Michael Barnes said the company had been doing its best to reach a deal with the tribe since the easements expired four years ago. “In addition to working toward a mutually beneficial agreement, Enbridge also worked with the band’s cultural resources, natural resources, and legal departmental staff to maintain safe pipeline operations within the boundaries of the reservation.” The tribe denies it has been negotiating with Enbridge about renewing the easements and says it is determined to remove the pipeline without further ado. Bad River council member Dylan Jennings said, “No amount of compensation or negotiation will change [the tribe’s] position.”

Line 5 is vulnerable to rust and corrosion because it travels underwater through the Straits of Mackinac, a narrow waterway that connects Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. If a leak or other pipeline disruption occurred, it could contaminate the Great Lakes, which hold one-fifth of the planet’s fresh surface water. For this reason, Representatives Dave Trott (R-Michigan) and Debbie Dingell (D-Michigan) have asked for a “comprehensive study” of the environmental risks of Line 5, calling for its possible shutdown, pending results.

Enbridge Line 5 Pipeline Beneath Straights of Mackinac
Enbridge Line 5 Pipeline Beneath Straights of Mackinac

In a press release, Chairman Blanchard said, “These environmental threats not only threaten our health, but they threaten our very way of life as [Chippewa].” The tribe called for community input in December of 2016 before the vote on the easement. Blanchard also said they “will reach out to federal, state and local officials to evaluate how to remove Line 5.”

Enbridge has far from a clean record when it comes to keeping oil contained in its pipes. In July 2010, the company suffered a massive blowout on Line 6B, another tar sands pipeline in Michigan. In the devastating event, an estimated one million gallons of extra-viscous toxic bitumen crude were dumped into the Kalamazoo River. The disaster sent a community reeling with health, environmental and economic problems. What has since transpired is an approximately $1.3 billion cleanup operation and a community still impacted by the poisonous spill today.

Building pipelines through Native American land requires easements approved by the tribe. In 2015, the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) enacted a rule that protects tribal land-use decisions; it “promotes “tribal self-determination and self-governance by providing greater deference to tribes on decisions affecting tribal land.”

In 2016, now-retired Senator Barbara Boxer (D-California) introduced S. 3498, a.k.a., the “Protect Our Drinking Water Act of 2016,” to the Committee on Environment and Public Works – a bill that would require the Army Corps of Engineers to gain written permission from federally recognized tribes and municipalities before beginning a project that could threaten local water supplies.

TransCanada and Northern Natural Gas also own pipelines running through the approximately 200-square-mile Wisconsin reservation.

Enbridge Line 5 Pipeline Beneath Straits of Mackinac — Photo: National Wildlife Federation (NWF)

OTHER OIL PIPELINE NEWS ON ENVIRONEWS

North American Oil CEO Admits Tar Sands and the Keystone XL Pipeline are Bad Ideas

(EnviroNews DC News Bureau) – “It never worked before, I seriously doubt if it’ll work now!” These were the words uttered by this mysterious oil and gas CEO of 20 years regarding tar sands in the United States in general. When we asked him about the Kyestone XL…

Diamond Pipeline Company Admits The Massive Project Will Only Create 15 Permanent Jobs

(EnviroNews DC News Bureau) – Jobs, jobs, jobs – that’s about all anyone ever heard from supporters of the Keystone XL Pipeline before that project went down in flames at the hands of the State Department earlier this year. Opponents continuously pushed back that Keystone XL would have…

Attack Dogs and Pepper Spray Deployed on Native American ‘Protectors’ in Dakota Access Pipeline Fight

(EnviroNews World News) – Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, North Dakota – Pepper spray filled the air and attack dogs were deployed as protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline Project (DAPL) turned violent on Saturday September 4, on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. Native American activists representing dozens of…

What’s The Big Deal About Pipelines? (Oh Right) – Explosive Pipeline Video Blows Up Online

(EnviroNews World News) – A video posted by the Facebook page ‘The Other 98%’ has gone viral – actually, it’s blown up (pun intended) – just like all the ruptured, exploding, flaming pipelines featured in the 22 second film. As of September 19, the video has gathered up…

Neil Young Takes Stand on Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) With New ‘Indian Givers’ Music Video

(EnviroNews World News) – It’s no secret, legendary rocker Neil Young is all about phasing out fossil fuels as quickly as possible, but his new music video titled, “Indian Givers,” is sure to reinforce Young’s eco-friendly legacy even further. The song is in response to the recent upheaval…

Donald Trump Says He’d ‘Immediately Approve Keystone XL’ While Holding TransCanada Stock

(EnviroNews World News) – Donald Trump reiterated via the Twittersphere last week that he would “immediately approve the Keystone XL Pipeline” is he is elected president. Is anyone surprised? If I am elected President I will immediately approve the Keystone XL pipeline. No impact on environment & lots…

Arrest Warrant Issued For Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! After Her Kick-Ass Reporting on Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL)

(EnviroNews DC News Bureau) – The award-winning team at Democracy Now! has announced that an arrest warrant has been issued in North Dakota for host and Executive Producer Amy Goodman. The show reports its celebrated anchor is being charged with criminal trespass – a misdemeanor offense. The warrant…

Neil Young on Climate Change, Keystone XL and Tar Sands at the Cowboy and Indian Alliance in DC

(EnviroNews DC News Bureau) – This interview with legendary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame musician Neil Young was taped live on April, 26 2014 at the Cowboy and Indian Alliance in Washington, D.C. The event sought to pressure President Barack Obama to reject the construction of the…

Daryl Hannah and Winona LaDuke on Tar Sands, Keystone XL and Fukushima at the Cowboy and Indian Alliance

(EnviroNews DC News Bureau) – In this interview, famed celebrity actress and activist Daryl Hannah was interviewed alongside renowned Native American activist, former Green Party vice presidential candidate and economist Winona LaDuke by EnviroNews USA Editor-in-Chief Emerson Urry. The dynamic duo attended the Cowboy and Indian Alliance “Reject…

Historic Keystone XL Protest Spurs Hope for Environmental Movement While Activists Battle On

(EnviroNews DC News Bureau) – The debate against the Keystone Pipeline heated up this past weekend as two traditionally opposed groups came together in an effort to defeat a project that threatens aquifers, sacred lands, and frankly, all life on Earth. The Cowboy and Indian Alliance formed a…

Lakota Sioux Tribe Invokes ‘Bad Men’ Treaty Clause Over Keystone Pipeline – Demands Feds Remove TransCanada

(EnviroNews DC News Bureau) – Lower Brule, Lower Brule Indian Reservation, South Dakota – The Oceti Sakowin, or Great Sioux Nation as it known in English, pressed on in its fight against the Keystone Pipeline this week. In a press release dated April 29, 2015, the Lower Brule…

First Nations Tribal Land Not For Sale – Lax Kw’alaams Band Rejects Billion Dollar Offer on Pipeline Deal

(EnviroNews DC News Bureau) – Port Simpson, British Columbia – In a decision that will undoubtedly inspire people around the world, the Lax Kw’alaams Band of First Nations natives in British Columbia, Canada have rejected a billion dollar offer to sell out to the interests of big multi-national…

Massive Transneft Pipeline Rupture Sets Moscow River Ablaze

(EnviroNews World News) – Moscow, Russia – Take a look at the dramatic videos in this article and witness giant black pillars of smoke, billowing 300 feet into Moscow’s air, while below on the Moskva River, a fuel-fed fire burns red-hot on the water’s surface. The explosion occurred…

Obama Promises New Lake Michigan Marine Reserve (But What About the Tar Sands Pipeline There?)

(EnviroNews World News) – Washington D.C. – On October 5, 2015, President Barack Obama notified the public of his intention to set aside American waters for two new marine life reserves – one in the tidal waters of Maryland – the other in Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan. Obama made…

PetroPeru Using Indigenous Children to Clean up Oil Spill Threatening Amazon River

(EnviroNews World News) – Nazareth, Peru – Two large oil pipeline spills have been reported in Peru near the boarder of Ecuador since late January of 2016. Viscous black crude has made its way into the headwaters of the mighty Amazon River, and more threatens to do so…

Ding Dong The Pipeline’s Dead: Sec. Kerry Kills Keystone XL Pipeline Once and For All

(EnviroNews World News) – On the morning of November 6, 2015, President Barack Obama stood before the media in Washington D.C. to express his support for the State Department’s most recent decision – an all-out rejection of the proposed fourth and final leg of the Keystone XL Pipeline….

BREAKING NEWS: Keystone XL Pipeline Dead (For Now) – TransCanada Pulls Plug on Application Process

(EnviroNews World News) – EnviroNews World News ascertained late this evening, on November 2, 2015, that TransCanada has made a request with the U.S. Government to suspended it’s permit application for the fourth and final leg of the Keystone XL Pipeline – a project intended to carry some…

Tesoro Shelves Utah Oil Pipeline Plan Indefinitely Blaming Market Conditions

(EnviroNews Utah) – Roosevelt, Utah – San Antonio refining giant Tesoro Corporation announced last week that it will be shelving its plan for a 135-mile-long oil pipeline that had been in the works for several years, citing “unfavorable market conditions.” Fuelfix reported Destin Singleton, company spokesman wrote, “due…

Alaska’s Shady Secret Natural Gas Pipeline Deal Moving Quietly Ahead Behind Closed Doors

(EnviroNews Alaska) – Point Thomson, Alaska – Under a cloak of secrecy, and with little opposition from conservation groups, the potentially lucrative Alaska Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Pipeline project continues to build momentum under a new Governor. The LNG Pipeline project is designed to move natural gas from…

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

TAGS
, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

FILM AND ARTICLE CREDITS