MADISON, Wis. (AP) — 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.
Houston-based
Enbridge Energy Co. wants to lay a new, larger pipeline on an existing
pipeline running from Superior to Delavan. 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 lawsuit the DNR’s environmental review was
inadequate and the agency should not have issued permits for the
321-mile project. The project could harm hundreds of acres of wetlands
and forests and oil spills could put the state’s waters at risk, the
lawsuit 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 began this winter.
Enbridge
spokeswoman Denise Hamsher said the company spent two years planning on
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 just received the
lawsuit Wednesday and were reviewing it. She said they would forward
the suit to the Department of Justice, which represents the state in
lawsuits. DOJ spokesman Mike Bauer didn’t immediately return a message
left at his office Thursday.
The DNR’s approval contains a
number of stipulations 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. Schimpff 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 the agency 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 lawsuit alleges there could be large populations of endangered species, including the lizard, in the pipeline’s path.
On the Net:
Wisconsin DNR: http://dnr.wi.gov/
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