IN CASE OF EMERGENCY:
If you witness an oil spill or chemical release call the National Response Center hotline at: 1-800-424-8802.
This line is only for reporting emergencies (not including frac-outs or other potential violations).
The Watch Line 5 organizers are hoping to put together a team to review the submissions, work on identifying potential violations, and support people in reporting violations. However, reporting violations and pressuring regulatory agencies to take action on violations is a question of organizing community power.
RESOURCES FOR REPORTING VIOLATIONS
The bureaucracy is HARD to navigate. Report the violation to the person who is legally responsible for taking action. This may change depending if it is during construction or after the pipeline is complete. It might be strategically useful to create a relationship with the applicable DNR or USACE workers.
Be persistent and follow up, because they may not respond at first. Agencies are highly compartmentalized, so it is also helpful to contact multiple people within the same agency to get around the red tape and find people who are willing/able to support. Emailing multiple people also makes FOIA-ing easier afterwards (because you know the emails/keywords to reference in the FOIA).
Contact the departments responsible for approving the relevant permits and notify the field agents of the violations.
Follow up daily until resolved.
WI Department of Natural Resources:
Regulates the deposit of harmful substances in lakes or rivers or illegal storage or disposal of hazardous waste. The following divisions regulate different kinds of violations.
• Water Resources Division: Wrote permits for Line 5 reroute. Regulates water, has jurisdiction under the CWA, SDWA. This agency regulates water withdrawl and soil erosion.
• Remediation and Redevelopment Division: Regulates chemical spills, including oil or gas. Contact them if you suspect an oil or chemical spill, including water overflowing from secondary containment or drilling fluid from a frac-out. Be explicit and specific if you see or smell chemicals or gasoline in the water (ie instead of “smells bad” describe: “smells like gasoline”). Collect samples if you are able. Ask a representative to meet you in the field to take their own samples. Note that they are not involved in the permitting process and are often cordoned off from regulation by bureaucracy.
• Air Quality Division : Monitors and regulates air quality concerns. Call them for dust plumes, illegal burning, etc.
General Reporting:
• Call or text: 1-800-847-9367; remember it by 1-800-TIP-WDNR
• Online reporting form: https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/contact/Hotline.html
• DNR Emergency Spills Hotline: 1 (800) 405-0016
• DNR Waterways Program Manager Ben Callan: Benjamin.Callan@wisconsin.gov
• DNR Endangered Species contact: Stacy Rowe; stacy.rowe@wi.gov
• Director for Northern WI : James Yach; (608) 218-0711 ; JamesA.Yach@wisconsin.gov
• Secretary’s Director of the Rhinelander Field Office, serves the counties through which the reroute runs– (Ashland, Bayfield, and Iron Counties)
US Army Corps of Engineers:
• Regulates: Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (regulates discharges of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States, including wetlands,) and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act (regulates any work or structures in, over, or under navigable waters of the United States), and any activity that may be out of compliance with an existing Corps permit.
• The Line 5 reroute is within the USACE St. Paul District (MVP)
• Office phone number: (651) 290-5525
• Office Address: US Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, Regulatory Division 332 Minnesota Street, Suite E 1500 St. Paul, MN 55101-1678
• Project Lead: Bill Sande; William.M.Sande@usace.army.mil
• Head of the St. Paul District: Colonel Eric Swenson; Eric.R.Swenson@usace.army.mil
• General website for reporting violations: https://rrs.usace.army.mil/rrs, click “Report Violations”
Environmental Protection Agency:
• Regulates: Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, among many other things. Sometimes only steps in to assist in regulatory duties in case of an emergency or at the request of the WI DNR or USACE.
• General Reporting: call 1-312-353-2000 or submit online at: https://echo.epa.gov/report-environmental-violations
• Wetland Regulatory contact for Region 5: Kerryann Weaver; weaver.kerryann@epa.gov; 312-353-9483
• Surface Water Enforcement contact for Region 5: Nefertiti DiCosmo; dicosmo.nefertiti@epa.gov; 312-353-6268
(works in the Water Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Division)
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
• Regulates worker health and safety
• File complaints here: https://www.osha.gov/workers/file-complaint
For instances of contaminants present in water (oil, gasoline etc), the DNR Water Resources Division usually calls the third party oversight company. The company will often use a lower price water test that may not detect contaminants. The DNR Remediation and Redevelopment Division has the ability to do water sample tests, but they are unlikely to be notified because they are not a part of the permitting and regulating process, and the third party oversight companies are in charge of “regulating” Enbridge. The EPA also has the capacity to conduct water tests (even pass/fail on-site testing), but may only come in emergency cases.