Enbridge Reroutes Line 5 in Wisconsin Amid Lawsuits
Analysis based on 7 articles · First reported Feb 25, 2026 · Last updated Feb 26, 2026
The commencement of Enbridge's Line 5 rerouting project, despite ongoing legal challenges, provides some certainty for energy supply in the Midwest and Great Lakes region. However, continued lawsuits from the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa and environmental groups, along with the United States===Michigan controversy, introduce regulatory and operational risks for Enbridge.
Enbridge has begun rerouting its Line 5 oil pipeline around the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa's reservation in northern United States===Wisconsin, after seven years of legal disputes. The tribe sued Enbridge in 2019, arguing that land easements for the 73-year-old pipeline had expired and it posed a spill risk. Although an administrative law judge upheld Enbridge's state wetlands permit, the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa and environmental groups have filed new lawsuits seeking to halt construction. Separately, Enbridge faces ongoing legal challenges in United States===Michigan regarding a segment of Line 5 beneath the Straits of Mackinac, with Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nessel filing lawsuits to void easements, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers fast-tracking a permit for a protective tunnel.
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