Wisconsin DNR extends Public Comment Period For Draft Environmental Impact Statement on proposed Enbridge pipeline relocation

Enbridge’s proposed new Line 5 through the Penokees crosses every major river in the watershed. Plans include mile-long horizontal directional drilling -- the same that produced the many breeches in the Minnesota aquifers as they drilled under 207 waterways over there -- and blasting through the million-year-old granite, rich with asbestos, in order to install their new line. (Map: Carl Lemke Sack)

By Barbara With*
Posted March 16, 2022, on Wisconsin Citizens Media Cooperative
Reprinted with permission

MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced on March 16, 2022, it is extending the public comment period for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement that it has prepared for the proposed relocation of Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline. The comment period is extended by one month and will now close on April 15, 2022.

The department is currently reviewing the more than 10,000 written comments it has received to date. The department has determined that this extension is reasonable given the project’s complexity, the volume of technical information, the length of the draft Environmental Impact Statement and the public interest in the project. The department hopes the extended comment period will provide the public with ample time to review and provide comments on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement.

The public is encouraged to submit written comments on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement by email or regular mail. Submit electronic and hardcopy written comments at any time through Friday, April 15, 2022, to:  

Department of Natural Resources Line 5 EIS Comments (EA/7) 101 South Webster Street, Madison, WI 53707 Email: DNROEEACOMMENTS@WI.GOV

The Wisconsin DNR will consider all public comments received during the comment period and any other pertinent information that becomes known to the department and prepare a Final Environmental Impact Statement. The public will be notified when the Final Environmental Impact Statement is completed. No permit decisions will be made until after the Environmental Impact Statement process is complete.

More information on the proposed project and the Draft Environmental Impact Statement is available on the DNR’s Enbridge Pipeline Projects webpage.**

* Guest author Barbara With is a journalist for the Wisconsin Citizens Media Cooperative.

** See also the Feb. 9, 2022, article "Guest Article: Citizens expose gross inadequacies in Enbridge Line 5 draft EIS, tell DNR to do their job."