The September 15 Spawning deadline for completing water crossings has come and gone, and drilling has only just started on the white river. As stated in the Time Restrictions page, the best interpretation of the DNR’s permit decision is that “Enbridge is restricted from conducting work directly in water bodies, or in-stream work, during fish spawning seasons. HDD activities are allowed, the rationale being that they are conducted beneath the water bodies. However, temporary bridges associated with HDD sites are not allowed since they are considered to have in-stream impacts.”
Community members have called the DNR multiple times to get clarity on the exception for HDD sites, with regard to the different restrictions and interpretation of said restrictions. Unfortunately, so far no one has received a straight answer, which has been cause for concern.
Potato River: A community member reported a large spool of thick wire on the north side of Potato River HDD site next to Curry Road, and as of 9/17, Curry Road was blocked with a “road closed” sign at the intersection with Hwy 169.
Line 5 rupture near Saxon: Flow through the existing Line 5 restarted on Monday 9/14 after Enbridge completed construction on their unpermitted bypass. It was about 3 weeks after an Enbridge truck rolled into the line and broke a valve, which caused 1.3 million gallons of natural gas liquids to spill. Enbridge ignored a letter of noncompliance from the DNR to finish its construction of the bypass and restart oil transportation through their pipeline. Source
Additionally, according to the National Wildlife Federation, “Enbridge is blocking state officials from the site of the spill, with federal support from the Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). The Director of Climate and Energy from the NWF, Beth Wallace, said, “I have never heard of the federal agency withholding a site from state agency or local officials. There is usually a unified command that is formed that involves all levels of government officials and agencies responding, and in this case, there appears to be a level of preemption that Enbridge and the federal agency is trying to establish.”
Bad River Declares State of Emergency: Following the pipe rupture near Saxon, Leaders with the Bad River Band declared an official disaster, urging state and federal officials to step in after what they describe as weeks of silence and unanswered questions. Source.