Enbridge pipeline trespassed on Wisconsin tribal land, must be moved, US appeals court finds

Built in 1953, the Line 5 pipeline carries up to 540,000 barrels of oil per day through the Great Lakes region from Canada, including about 12 miles (19 km) under the Bad River Reservation.

U.S. District Judge William Conley in Madison, Wisconsin, awarded damages and ordered a reroute following a non-jury trial. The Bad River Band had warned a shutdown was needed because spring rains had eroded a riverbank protecting the pipeline.

Writing for a three-judge panel, Scudder said the three-year timetable to move the pipeline was too aggressive, but a shutdown risked harming consumers, sparking international fallout with Canada, and violating a 1977 U.S.-Canadian treaty governing transit pipelines.

"Make no mistake: Enbridge must remove the pipeline from the [tribe's land]," Scudder wrote. "The grace period we direct the district court to afford Enbridge is the product of the broader public context in which the pipeline operates, and it does not reflect our approval of the company’s behavior."