Line 5 in Wisconsin: Consider the alternative

Enbridge moves up to 540,000 barrels a day of light crude oil, light synthetic crude oil and natural gas liquids (NGLs) on its Line 5 pipeline, which traverses the northwest portion of Wisconsin from Superior to Ironwood.

The Line 5 underground pipeline was built in 1953 to remove oil-carrying tanker traffic from the Great Lakes, and avoid oil transportation by truck and rail. We’ve been safely operating Line 5 for more than 65 years, thanks to an aggressive prevention program that includes regular inspections, robust maintenance and 24/7 system monitoring.

Consider the alternative. If we were to transport the same amount of product by tanker truck, an estimated 2,100 trucks would need to travel east every day on US-2 from Superior to transport products currently carried by Line 5. That’s the equivalent of 90 trucks an hour leaving our Superior Terminal.

In 2019, in spite of Line 5’s safe operation for more than six decades, the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians filed legal action, requesting that Enbridge relocate the existing Line 5 outside the reservation.

In response to that litigation and in order to maintain the uninterrupted service of Line 5 to customers and consumers who rely on it, Enbridge initiated the Line 5 Wisconsin Segment Relocation Project.