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the risk of illness,
hospitalization and death

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for people who choose to
get them.

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controversy over the oil
and gas pipeline through

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northern Wisconsin went
before the public this week

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during the third of four
contested case hearings

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across the state. In
Ashland, the bad River Band

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of Lake Superior Chippewa
presented witnesses in

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their challenge of the
permits the Wisconsin DNR

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granted to Canadian
Enbridge Energy Inc. for a

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41 mile reroute of the
pipeline. Operational since

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1953. Line five, as it's
known, carries 23 million

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gallons a day from Superior
to Ontario. The tribe had

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sued to remove the pipeline
from its reservation lands

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after easements expired.
And in 2020, Enbridge

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proposed rerouting part of
the line around tribal

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lands. Late last year, the
DNR granted permits for

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pipeline construction that
impacts wetlands and

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waterways, as well as
granting permits to

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maintain erosion control
and water quality in the

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midst of construction. That
includes blasting, bedrock

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and drilling. The tribe and
environmental groups

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challenged those permits,
resulting in the court

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ordered public hearings.
Bad River tribal chairman,

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Robert Blanchard, was the
first to take the stand.

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And chairman, thanks very
much for being here.

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>> Thank you for having me.
>> So what did you most

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want the judge to know
about the impacts of line

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five and its reroute around
the bad River reservation,

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but through nearby wetlands
and wetlands, what did you

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most want the judge to know
about those impacts?

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>> So reroute is going
within the ceded

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territories of of of the
the band. And impact is

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going to be over 100 acres
of wetlands, which, you

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know, will get disturbed.
30 some acres of that will

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not be usable again through
horizontal direct drilling,

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blasting, which is going to,
you know, a lot of it's

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going to impact our our
water resources.

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>> Now, I know, I know, the
tribe wanted the pipeline

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removed from your land. Why
isn't rerouting it around

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the reservation proper
enough?

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>> Well, I will do is shift
the risk upstream, exposing

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more of the environment to
be put at at at risk than

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than what is now. But, you
know, like I said before,

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we have ceded territories
hunting and fishing and

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gathering of of medicines
and other other stuff. So I

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mean that that's just going
it's just moving the

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problem upstream. You know,
we're we'll be downstream

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from that. And if something
were to happen, you know,

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it's really impact us as
people and our way of life.

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>> Circling back to
something you spoke to a

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moment ago during your
testimony, you spoke about

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the wild rice harvest. Why
is that? And hunting and

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fishing rights you hold. So
key to your community?

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>> Well, we've been
harvesting wild rice on in

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the Sokaogon Streu's for
over 100 years. You know,

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my grandparents brought us
harvested down there, and

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they they made rice camps
down there. And, you know,

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so that that's near and
dear to my heart and a lot

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of other people also. But.
It identifies us as, as

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people, you know, that that
we were brought here for a

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reason. And, and one of the
reasons is that to go where

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the food grows on the water,
and that was the wild rice,

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and that is quite dear to
us. And as far as other

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things, hunting, fishing
and gathering, you know,

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there's a lot of people
today that that use that

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resource to provide and put
food on the table for their

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families. So it's very
important to us.

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>> Why are the waters and
the land so important to

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the protection of those
rights?

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>> Well, we also feel that,
you know, everything out

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there is sacred. You know,
we we we we use that that

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those resources. And when
we go and harvest and we go

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hunting or fishing, we take
only what we need to do for

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our families. So and we
also believe that, you know,

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that everything out there
has a spirit. Every living

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thing out there has a
spirit, you know? And

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that's what we're
protecting is the spirit of

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that medicine, the spirit
of that wild rice and the

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spirit of those waters and
lands to be able for our

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future generations, to be
able to enjoy that.

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>> For its part, Enbridge
states that they have

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learned what they do today
impacts the next seven

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generations. And it has
that. It has a

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responsibility to care for
the land. What's your

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response to that statement
from the CEO of Enbridge?

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>> Well, I don't think
Enbridge really understands,

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you know, the they look at
it a lot different than we

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do. You know. They're
they're there for for

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different reasons. And
we're there to to protect

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the land, truly protect the
land and the resources.

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>> Your Band River Band is
fighting hard over this.

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What will you do if the
line five project is

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allowed to proceed in this
way?

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>> Well, that's a that's
the big question. We are

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still trying to come up
with some some answers, and

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we're just going to keep
moving forward and keep

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fighting.
>> We will be watching.