A post marks where Enbridge’s Line 5 crosses the reservation of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa in June 2022. The Canadian energy firm is proposing to reroute Line 5 for 41 miles around the tribe’s reservation. (Danielle Kaeding/Wisconsin Public Radio, file)

Canadian energy firm Enbridge said hundreds of workers are on site in northern Wisconsin even as legal challenges remain ongoing in its plan to reroute the Line 5 oil and gas pipeline.

Crews are clearing trees from the project’s right-of-way and laying down large wooden mats for temporary access roads as they prepare to start drilling to install a new stretch of the pipeline, according to Juli Kellner, an Enbridge spokesperson.

“Including the inspection, environmental, safety and cultural resources teams we have over 500 staff in the field currently,” Kellner said in an email. “Hotels, campgrounds, gas stations, restaurants, grocery stores, local vendors and convenience stores are all benefitting from an increase in customers.”

Enbridge said many workers on site are local. Brownsville-based Michels Pipeline Inc. is spearheading work along with subcontractors from Wisconsin and the Ashland area.

Enbridge is building a new 41-mile stretch of Line 5 around the reservation of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa after the tribe sued in 2019 to shut down the pipeline on its lands. The $450 million project would affect 101 acres of wetlands and cross 186 waterways.

Bad River Tribal Chairwoman Elizabeth Arbuckle said tribal officials maintain state permits for the project are unlawful, and they continue to fight them in court.

“This is our homeland. This is what we’ve known. This is who we are. This preserves the way of life we know and understand,” Arbuckle told WPR. “While we’ve been taking care of the land, it’s been taking care of us. That’s the commitment our ancestors made, and that is a commitment I continue to stand by and uphold.”

In 2024, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources issued state permits for rerouting Line 5. The Bad River tribe and environmental groups challenged those approvals in a weekslong contested case hearing. They were eventually upheld by an administrative law judge.

In February, the tribe and environmental groups sought review of the DNR’s decision to issue permits in Iron County Circuit Court, seeking to stop the pipeline’s construction. In May, a Bayfield County judge allowed work to continue, but he halted construction in four waterways where the company needs additional permits.

Rob Lee, senior staff attorney for Midwest Environmental Advocates, said the company is moving ahead with construction at its own risk as their legal challenge remains ongoing.

“We are hopeful and expect the judge to reach a decision before the entire pipeline can be constructed, much less become operational,” Lee said.

Tribal officials and independent environmental monitors are keeping tabs on construction. Arbuckle said the tribe is concerned the reroute will stir up mercury in waterways and harm wild rice beds that are already threatened by changing climate conditions. Enbridge said the project won’t exceed the tribe’s water quality standards or harm treaty rights to hunt, fish and gather.

Enbridge began building the new segment in February after it received a final permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The tribe is challenging the Army Corps permit in federal court.

The reroute has drawn the backing of farm and business groups, labor unions and Republican lawmakers. At peak construction, the project is expected to employ 700 union workers and contribute $135 million to Wisconsin’s economy. Enbridge said Line 5 is critical and serves 10 refineries and propane facilities in the Midwest.

Opponents of the project have highlighted multiple spills from Enbridge pipelines that include a 2010 release into Michigan’s Kalamazoo River, as well as nearly 70,000 gallons that spilled in Jefferson County days before the DNR issued permits for the Line 5 reroute.

In 2023, U.S. District Court Judge William Conley ordered Enbridge to shut down or reroute Line 5 around the Bad River reservation by mid-June this year and ordered the company to pay $5.15 million for trespassing on tribal lands. Both the tribe and Enbridge appealed the decision.

In March, Conley paused his shutdown order until a federal appeals court issues a ruling, citing potential “devastating” impacts of a sudden shutdown. A federal appeals panel has yet to issue a decision in the case.