Wisconsin judge rules against Enbridge on Line 5, but stops short of shutdown

A Wisconsin judge has ruled in favour of an Indigenous band in its dispute with Enbridge over Line 5, but stopped short of shutting down the controversial cross-border pipeline.

District Court Judge William Conley says the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa has proven it was entitled to revoke permission for the pipeline to cross its territory back in 2013.

Conley also says the band, which wants the line removed from the Bad River reservation, is entitled to financial compensation - although the decision does not go into detail on that front.

The judge rejected the band’s motion to have the pipeline shut down, however, citing the potential for serious foreign policy and trade consequences for both Canada and the United States.

He acknowledges Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly’s decision late last month to formally invoke a 1977 treaty between the two countries that specifically covers cross-border pipelines.

Conley’s order, issued late Wednesday, also requires Enbridge to reroute the pipeline around Bad River territory within five years, an effort the company says is already underway.

“The court will grant the band’s motion with respect to its trespass and unjust enrichment claims, Enbridge’s counterclaims and the band’s entitlement to a monetary remedy,” he writes.

“Nevertheless, the court must deny the band’s request for an automatic injunction, as an immediate shutdown of the pipeline would have significant public and foreign policy implications.”

Environmental concerns are top of mind in Wisconsin, where the pipeline runs directly through the Bad River Reservation, more than 500 square kilometres of pristine wetlands, streams and wilderness.

The band has been in court with Enbridge for more than three years, arguing that the Calgary-based company is trespassing, having violated the terms of the easements that allowed the pipeline to traverse the reservation beginning in 1953.

Enbridge, which is in the process of trying to reroute the pipeline around the reservation, argued that a 1992 agreement with the Bad River Band allows the pipeline to keep operating until 2043.