MADISON, WI (AP)— A federal judge said Thursday he is unlikely to force an energy company to shut down an oil pipeline in northern Wisconsin, despite arguments from a Native American tribe that the line is at immediate risk of being exposed by erosion and rupturing on reservation land.
U.S. District Judge William Conley said the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa didn’t prove that an emergency exists along a stretch of the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline where large sections of nearby riverbank have been washed away in recent weeks. Conley also expressed frustration with the tribe for not allowing Enbridge to reinforce the land around the pipeline.
“The band has not helped itself by refusing to take any steps to prevent a catastrophic failure at the meander,” Conley said. “You haven’t even allowed simple steps that would have prevented some of this erosion.”
The tribe says less than 15 feet (4.6 meters) of land now stands between the Bad River and Line 5 along a meander on the reservation. In some places, more than 20 feet (6 meters) of riverbank has eroded in the past month alone. Experts and environmental advocates have warned in court that an exposed section of pipeline would be weakened and could rupture at any time, causing massive oil spills.