WED AM News: Opponents, supporters of Line 5 relocation clash during Ashland hearing; Talking Trade with Sahr Lebbie, Global Lite Refinery

June 5, 2024

— Opponents of a proposed oil pipeline relocation are raising concerns about environmental harm while supporters of the Enbridge Line 5 proposal frame the project as an economic boon for the region.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers held a public hearing in Ashland yesterday on Enbridge’s application to relocate a 12-mile segment of Line 5 and build a new 41-mile segment outside the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa reservation.

The proposal comes after a federal judge ruled in 2022 Enbridge had illegally trespassed on the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa’s land. The decision is now on appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals.

At a press conference ahead of the hearings, Dan Wiggins Jr. of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa said what Enbridge is doing “just isn’t right” and the company has negated tribal sovereignty.

“We struggle to see why it is so hard to protect our waters, to protect our lands. And we struggle to see why there’s so many people in support of Line 5,” Wiggins said.

During the hearing, Anya Janssen, a staff attorney for Midwest Environmental Advocates, said the corps should reject the relocation proposal and should consider shutting down the pipeline. Janssen requested the Corps conduct an environmental impact statement, which she said would demonstrate the need to deny the proposal.

“Do not abdicate this responsibility to a foreign corporation that puts profit over the health of communities and natural resources and that has a horrendous track record for environmental contamination and endangerment,” Janssen said.

Janssen also criticized the proposed use of horizontal drilling, a method she said led to spills at the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline.

“These outcomes are neither inadvertent nor unforeseeable, but rather are predictable and likely consequences,” she said.

Craig Summerfield, director of environmental & energy policy at Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, said Wisconsin manufacturers and other businesses need access to affordable and reliable energy to grow and maintain jobs in the state.

“Line 5 is a crucial piece of infrastructure. We need to ensure Wisconsin businesses continue to have access to affordable and reliable energy,” Summerfield said.

Summerfield rejected calls to shut down the pipeline, which he said would severely impact the state’s energy supply and lead to job losses. He noted an estimated 2,100 trucks daily would have to travel from Superior on US-2 to transport oil the pipeline currently transports if the line was shut down, citing an estimate featured on Enbridge’s website.

The Line 5 pipeline transports 540,000 barrels of oil and natural gas liquids per day. The proposed route was designed to avoid “sensitive areas” like Copper Falls State Park, according to Enbridge. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is one of several agencies reviewing the proposal, and Enbridge has said it will not begin construction until all the permits are received.

Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation President Brad Olson yesterday spoke in support of the project, arguing the pipeline provides energy certainty and lower costs for the state’s agricultural operations. He noted farming in Wisconsin is a “risky and challenging” industry.

“Every day, there are many unpredictable variables that impact farmers across the state,” he said during the hearing. “What cannot be unpredictable for farmers is how they get the necessary fuel to support and run their farms. Without the crude oil and natural gas being transported by Line 5, farmers across Wisconsin will be left with an uncontrollable situation.”

Wisconsin Paper Council President Scott Suder also spoke in support, arguing the proposed relocation “minimizes the impact” to sensitive environmental and cultural areas.

“The continued operation of Line 5 is the safest and most efficient way to continue to move the energy our entire region needs,” he said in a statement.

In the press conference before the hearings, Sierra Club Wisconsin Chapter Director Elizabeth Ward said the Line 5 relocation “represents a clear threat to the health and safety” of communities in the state as well as Wisconsin’s natural resources.

“We’re all united in opposition to this dangerous pipeline,” Ward said yesterday.

Meanwhile, Clean Wisconsin is putting a spotlight on Enbridge’s “pipeline disaster record,” including one of the largest inland oil spills in U.S. history, the Kalamazoo River spill in 2010. And the environmental advocacy group notes the company punctured three aquifers in Minnesota while working on another pipeline replacement project in 2021, leading to nearly 300 million gallons of groundwater flowing to the surface.

Because the proposed relocation of the 41-mile segment would still be near the Bad River Reservation, the Sierra Club notes any spill would “contaminate the area’s watershed” and pose a risk to the reservation’s waters.

The Wisconsin Jobs and Energy Coalition is urging support for the project, which it says will create 700 Wisconsin union construction jobs and put $135 million into the local economy.

In a release from the coalition, Wisconsin Building Trades Council Executive Director Emily Pritzkow argues the relocation “has not only been designed to create the least environmental impact as possible, but it will be built by the best trained and safest union workforce on earth,” using the latest available technologies.

“We are excited to put 700 union construction workers to work on this important project,” she said.

See the coalition’s release.

See more on the project from the Sierra Club of Wisconsin.

— In the latest episode of “Talking Trade,” Global Lite Refinery CEO Sahr Lebbie discusses how he launched a palm oil refinery in Sierra Leone from his corporate base in Milwaukee.

He shares details on the history of the business, as well as challenges he overcame on that journey.

“One of the reasons why myself, as many other students that came to the United States to study, was in search of better opportunities,” he said. “So ultimately, when I came and I noticed some of the opportunities that the United States provides, as long as you work hard, I was able to utilize that.”

Lebbie says he hasn’t established a “fixed market” in the United States yet, but he’s getting “a lot of attention” from parts of Europe and Asia. He notes palm oil is used in many industries, ranging from food production to pharmaceuticals and manufacturing other products.

“There’s a high demand for it in Europe, there’s a high demand for it in Asia — China, India, etcetera — I also believe the United States has a high demand for it, but I have not been able to fully incorporate the companies that utilize it,” he said.

The refinery business is a subsidiary of Global Lite, which is also involved in home and hospice care, maritime transport and real estate development, according to the company’s website. Its Sierra Leone presence includes a 120,000-square-foot space and 300 acres of land.

Watch the full episode here.

“Talking Trade” is now available in audio form on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. Subscribe and find more episodes here.

— The Republican National Convention has begun work on preparing the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee for next month’s convention.

The RNC’s Committee on Arrangements yesterday announced convention planners and the “build-out team” have officially moved into the arena, kicking off a six-week effort to prepare the space for the convention, taking place July 15-18.

COA Chairwoman Anne Hathaway said the move marks a “critical milestone” for the committee’s preparations.

“In six weeks, we will have transformed the Fiserv Forum into a world-class convention venue for our delegates, officials, guests, and members of the media,” she said in a statement.

See the release and see more at the WisPolitics Convention Corridor page.

— The Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee will meet Thursday to take up several agency requests, including one from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. to release $10 million to help attract big events to Wisconsin.

The Evers administration last month sent the committee several requests to release funds held in the body’s supplemental appropriation. They were sent as the guv and GOP lawmakers have been locked in a legal fight over the Joint Finance Committee’s power to reject requests to release funds for stewardship purchase.

See the agenda.

— The WHEDA Foundation has opened up grant applications for $2 million in total funding, supporting groups providing “extremely low-income” housing, emergency shelter and transitional housing.

The foundation’s Housing Grant Program, administered by the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority, is meant to improve housing options for people with disabilities, those experiencing domestic violence, homeless youth and others.

The program is offering grants of up to $50,000 to eligible applicants, which can include nonprofits or cooperatives, community development organizations, housing authorities, local government entities and tribal organizations.

Applications are due Aug. 12 and awards will be announced near the end of this year.

See the release.

— The Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Network is now offering a new treatment for patients with the most aggressive form of skin cancer.

The health network yesterday announced it will provide the first FDA-approved cell therapy treatment for advanced melanoma, called Lifileucel.

It was approved in February after doctors at the Froedtert Hospital Clinical Cancer Center participated in a clinical trial for the treatment, created by California-based Iovance Biotherapeutics. The principal investigator for the trial, Dr. Amy Harker-Murray, is a medical oncologist with the Cancer Network and an assistant professor at MCW.

She notes this is the first targeted, personalized therapy the health network can offer patients after other treatments fail. It’s been shown to improve overall survival and reduce the size of tumors and the number of cancer cells, according to the release.

“As an academic medical center, we have the expertise in pathology, surgical and medical oncology, cell therapy lab, pharmacy and inpatient/outpatient teams to coordinate the complex care required to treat these patients,” she said in a statement.

See the release.

Ascension hopes to restore a key medical records system by June 14, weeks after cyberattack

Contractors begin preparing Fiserv Forum, Deer District area for RNC, weeks ahead of time

TOPICS

AGRIBUSINESS

– Farm community rallies in time of need

CONSTRUCTION

– Three Leaf Partners returns with new Wauwatosa apartment designs

– The Boldt Group will be led by someone not named Boldt, a first in firm’s 135-year history

ECONOMY

– For an answer to the housing shortage in northern Wisconsin, take a look upstairs

ENVIRONMENT