Source: Enbridge
Bad River Band calls for state disaster declaration following Line 5 spill
The tribe is seeking a disaster declaration from Gov. Tony Evers and wants state regulators to revisit permits issued for Enbridge’s Line 5 reroute.
Sep 17, 2026, 3:00 PM ET
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The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and environmental groups are calling on Gov. Tony Evers to make a state disaster declaration following last month’s natural gas liquids spill in Iron County.
Tribal leaders and environmental advocates held a press briefing Wednesday to address the spill and raised concerns over Enbridge returning Line 5 to service using a temporary bypass around the spill site.
Line 5 was shut down on Aug. 25 after an unoccupied subcontractor truck rolled into an excavation site near Saxon and struck the pipeline, releasing about 1.3 million gallons of natural gas liquids.
Enbridge announced that the pipeline had been returned to service over the weekend using the temporary bypass around the damaged section of the pipeline.
The announcement came after the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources asked Enbridge to halt construction in a Sept. 9 letter, saying the company did not have the required permits.
Bad River Band Chairwoman Liz Arbuckle said the tribe is still waiting for answers about the spill and what happens next.
“We’re 20 days into this,” said Arbuckle. “We still don’t have answers as to what was in there, what happened, what are they going to do about it and why aren’t they stopping?”
Arbuckle said the spill is especially concerning because it happened about three miles from the Bad River Reservation. She said the tribe plans to declare it a disaster and wants Gov. Evers to do the same.
“There’s a lot of dangers and risks to our people. This is our treaty-ceded territory, right? This is where our people have always hunted, fished, gathered, lived, and all of that’s at risk,” said Arbuckle.
The Bad River Band is also asking state officials to revoke permits issued for Enbridge’s 41-mile Line 5 reroute around the reservation.
“Quite honestly, they have the authority to revoke this permit,” said Stefanie Tsosie, an Earthjustice attorney representing the tribe.
Tsosie said a condition in the permit allows the DNR to modify it for good cause, including permit violations.
“That’s exactly what we’re seeing here,” said Tsosie.
In a statement to Civic Media, Enbridge spokesperson Juli Kellner said all work on the temporary bypass was consistent with either conditions in existing permits or its application for an amendment to its stormwater permit.
“Enbridge was in daily communications with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and DNR staff was on site periodically during construction,” said Kellner. “We continue to work with the DNR on relevant permitting and separately on environmental conditions at the incident site.”
Kellner also said testing of surface water and a nearby residential well continues to show no impacts, while water monitoring wells have shown no contamination.
“Soil and water monitoring are in place, as are plans to test, remove and properly dispose of the soil in the trench. Wildlife has not been impacted,” said Kellner.
Meanwhile, tribal leaders have requested a meeting with Evers to discuss the spill and what action the state will take next.
“Rushing pipeline construction without approval really increases the chance of engineering errors, secondary leaks, soil collapse and flowing high pressure fuel through temporary or unexpected pipes before finding out what caused the original break risks not only another failure but it puts that community in harm’s way all over again,” said Winnay Wemigwase, Chairperson for the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians.
Maddie Schaffer is a reporter at WBZH and WHSM, covering the Hayward area and surrounding areas in the Northwoods. Email her at maddie.schaffer@civicmedia.us.
