Wisconsin Approves Pipeline Reroute Near Bad River Reservation
According to Indigenous water protectors, it’s not a matter of whether a pipeline will rupture and leak, but when. The federal government’s own data supports this, with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration reporting that there were 1.5 incidents per day in 2023.
But in northern Wisconsin on the Bad River Reservation, the incontrovertible claim that the safest way to build a pipeline is not to build one at all isn’t being heeded.
On Nov. 14, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) granted the Canadian pipeline corporation Enbridge the permits needed to proceed with a plan to build a 41-mile section of pipeline around the Bad River Reservation.