Below is a letter that was sent to Adam C. Mednick of the Department of Natural Resources on February 3, 2021 regarding the public comment period on the Enbridge Line 5 draft environmental impact statement (DEIS). A PDF version of the letter is available here.
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Dear Mr. Mednick,
The undersigned organizations are deeply concerned about Enbridge Energy’s proposal to construct a new section of its Line 5 oil pipeline through the Bad River watershed east of Ashland in northern Wisconsin. After we submitted comments during the environmental impact statement (EIS) scoping phase last summer, we have continued to study the proposal and its myriad environmental risks as we wait for the completion and release of the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS).
As you are of course aware, Wis. Admin. Code § NR 150.30(3)(c) provides for a public comment period of at least 30 days after the release of the DEIS, but further provides that the department “may grant reasonable requests from any person to extend the comment period.” Please consider this letter a formal request for a 90-day extension of the comment period on the Line 5 DEIS.
This is a large and extremely complex linear project that traverses multiple landscapes, each of which is itself environmentally and culturally complex, not to mention extraordinarily sensitive. The enormous public interest in the proposal is illustrated by the number of concerned citizens testifying at last summer’s scoping hearing (more than 70), the duration of the hearing (more than four hours) and the number of written comments submitted before, during and after the hearing (approximately 2,100). This level of public involvement in the EIS scoping process foreshadows what is almost certain to be overwhelming interest in the DEIS. Given the many months it is taking to prepare the EIS, and its predictable length and complexity, it would be unreasonable to expect interested members of the public to digest and prepare meaningful comments on it in less than two months. We would, therefore, appreciate it if DNR would exercise its authority to grant a 90-day extension of the public comment period.
Sincerely,
Louise Petering
President, League of Women Voters of Wisconsin
Fred Clark, Executive Director
Wisconsin’s Green Fire
Neil Houk, President
Chequamegon Audubon Society
Kevin Seefeldt, President
Trout Unlimited-- Wild Rivers Chapter
Tony Wilkin Gibart, Executive Director
Midwest Environmental Advocates
Alex Faber, Executive Director
Superior Rivers Watershed Association
Gail Nordheim, President
350 Madison, Inc.
Elizabeth Ward, Director
Sierra Club—John Muir Chapter
Winona LaDuke, Executive Director
Honor the Earth
Phyllis Hasbrouck, Organizer
Wisconsin Safe Energy Alliance
