The latest hearing challenging
the Enbridge Line 5
oil and gas pipeline
in northern Wisconsin
unfolded late this week.
The Bad River Band
of Lake Superior Chippewa
and environmental groups
want state permits
already approved
to be reversed
and to halt any
pipeline construction.
I've had people ask
why the concerns if the
pipeline has been rerouted
to skirt reservation lands?
Lots of reasons
to be worried or concerned
and one of them is
when they do the construction
they are going to be
stirring up
mercury deposits
from acid rain
from decades past
and those have settled.
So when they come through
to do that
that's going to stir up
these deposits
which are then going
to go directly into
our waterways.
They are just hugging
our reservation.
It's not like they went
miles and miles away.
It's literally a stone's throw
from our land
our reservation boundaries.
That is going to stir up
these mercury deposits
that have been
in our wetlands
and go into our water
and go into Lake Superior.
We've already got
we already have
mercury deposit warnings
and can only eat
one walleye a week or a month
depending on
on your age and gender.
That's
that's problematic.