Madison, Wis – Over 14,000 supporters, including over 11,500 Wisconsinites, joined a petition organized by the Wisconsin Jobs and Energy Coalition calling on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to issue the permits necessary to reroute a portion of the Line 5 pipeline in Bayfield, Ashland and Iron Counties. The petition was in response to a public comment period following the release of the Army Corps’ Line 5 relocation project Draft Environmental Assessment in May.
In addition to the thousands of petition signers, over three dozen of Wisconsin’s leading organizations representing labor, business, agriculture, and local governments, sent letters to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in support of the Line 5 relocation project. The diverse coalition included organizations such as the Wisconsin Building Trades Council, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, Wisconsin Counties Association, and the Wisconsin Ag Coalition – which includes nearly a dozen of the state’s most influential and economically important agricultural groups like the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation and Wisconsin Corn Growers Association.
Line 5 moves roughly 540,000 barrels of crude oil and natural gas liquids each day. Line 5 is unique because it not only moves crude oil that is refined into transportation fuels, but it also transports natural gas liquids that are made into propane.
According to the letter submitted by members of the Wisconsin Ag Coalition, “Line 5 plays a particularly important role in the regional propane supply. Propane is an essential energy source for just about every farm in the state. Propane is often the only viable energy source to heat farmers’ homes, heat cleaning and sanitation water, heat livestock barns and dry crops after harvest. Clean burning propane is even used to power some farm equipment…We are very concerned about the impact on propane price and supply if the Line 5 relocation is not approved.”
Wisconsin Dairy Business Association’s Chad Zuleger added, “Wisconsin’s farmers depend on the affordable propane, gas and diesel made possible by Line 5. Without Line 5 there is little doubt that Wisconsin’s consumers would see higher food prices at the checkout line.”
The project to relocate 41 miles of Line 5 off the Bad River Band’s Reservation is estimated to create over 700 Wisconsin union construction jobs, pump $135 million into the local economy, and bring with it millions in additional tax revenue. Line 5’s owner, Enbridge, has signed a letter of intent with Wisconsin-based Michels Pipeline, Inc. as the mainline contractor for the project, and a Project Labor Agreement has been signed with the Laborers International Union of North America, International Union of Operating Engineers, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters.
“Wisconsin’s trades men and women have been waiting patiently for over four years to begin work on the Line 5 relocation,” said Corey Gall, President of the Wisconsin Pipe Trades Association. “This project will bring with it 700 Wisconsin union construction jobs – the kind of jobs that sustain families and build communities. And, the work will be done the best trained, and safest, workers on the planet.”
Enbridge has committed to allocating more than 10 percent of the $450 million budget for the project to Native-owned businesses and the training and hiring of tribal members to work on the project.
“As an Ashland small business owner and proud member of the Bad River Band, I look forward to the economic benefits the relocation project will bring to our region and our tribe,” stated Pat Nemec, co-owner of LK1 Services and member of the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa. “Many of my fellow tribal members quietly support this important energy project. I am proud to serve as their voice and urge both state and federal regulators to approve the permits necessary to complete the Line 5 relocation.”
The petition and letters submitted during the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers public comment period that ends on Friday come two years after the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources held a similar public comment period on the Line 5 relocation. During the DNR public comment period, more than 11,500 Wisconsinites submitted comments urging the DNR to approve the project during a four-month DEIS public comment period in early 2002. An analysis of those comments, which were made public by the DNR, showed that by a 2-to-1 margin Wisconsinites supported the Line 5 relocation project.
In addition to the more than 11,500 petition signers from Wisconsin, the following organizations submitted a public comment to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in favor of moving forward with the Line 5 relocation project:
APEX
Centergy
Construction Business Group
Cooperative Network
Dairy Business Association
Five Skies Training and Consulting
Futurewood
Great Lakes Timber Professionals Association
Growmark
Hawk Industries
Johnson Timber
Lakehead Constructors Inc
LK1 Services
Michels Corporation
Midwest Food Products Association
North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters
Northern Clearing
Teamsters Local 346
Wisconsin Agri-Business Association
Wisconsin Corn Growers Association
Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation
Wisconsin Propane Gas Association
Wisconsin Restaurant Association
Wisconsin Building Trades Council
Wisconsin Counties Association
Wisconsin Electric Cooperative Association
Wisconsin Fuel and Retail Association
Wisconsin Independent Businesses
Wisconsin Industrial Energy Group
Wisconsin Laborers’ District Council
Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce
Wisconsin Paper Council
Wisconsin Pipe Trades Association
Wisconsin Soybean Association
Wisconsin Potato & Vegetable Growers
Wisconsin Pork Association
Wisconsin State Cranberry Growers Association
International Union of Operating Engineers Local 139
Wisconsin Infrastructure Investment Now
