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Story originally printed in the Winona Daily News or online at www.winonadailynews.com

Published - Friday, December 22, 2006

Environmental advocates sue over giant oil pipeline

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/