Suit attacks pipeline approval

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources should have done a better job studying the impact of an oil pipeline expansion across the state before giving the go-ahead, according to a lawsuit environmental advocates filed Thursday.

Enbridge Energy Co. of Houston wants to lay a new, larger pipeline on the route of an existing one running from Superior in the northwest corner of the state to Delavan in the southeast. The DNR has granted the company conditional approval.

But the Wisconsin Wetlands Association, the Friends of St. Croix Headwaters and the River Alliance of Wisconsin argue in their suit that the DNR's environmental review was inadequate and that the agency should not have issued permits for the 321-mile project. The project could damage hundreds of acres of wetlands and forests, and oil spills could put the state's waters at risk, the suit alleges.

"If our state natural resource agency doesn't consider impacts of this extent significant, our wetlands are really in trouble," the Wetlands Association's executive director, Becky Abel, said in a statement.

Preliminary construction work on the project has begun.

Enbridge spokeswoman Denise Hamsher said the company spent two years planning how to lessen environmental impact. She described the DNR's environmental studies as "very comprehensive."We believe this is as rigorous as any environmental construction plan can be," Hamsher said.

She said the company wants to complete as much work as it can this winter to mitigate effects on the environment and wildlife.

DNR spokeswoman Erin Celello said agency attorneys received the suit Wednesday and were reviewing it. She said they will forward it to the Department of Justice, which represents the state in lawsuits. Department spokesman Mike Bauer didn't immediately return a message left at his office Thursday.

The DNR's approval contains a number of stipulations that the company must minimize damage to wetlands, restore affected areas and create temporary bridges over streams to avoid stirring up sediment, said Jeff Schimpff, project manager for the DNR's Office of Energy. He helped coordinate the permit process

"We tried to get them [Enbridge] to understand we would have a lot of restrictions," Schimpff said.

The DNR issued a statement Thursday saying it plans to allow Enbridge to unintentionally kill or remove small populations of the slender glass lizard, an endangered species. The agency can allow such "incidental taking" under state law as long as it doesn't jeopardize the species survival.

But the suit alleges that there could be large populations of endangered species, including the lizard, in the pipeline's path.