Madison, Wis – More than 11,500 Wisconsinites provided comments in support of the Enbridge Line 5 Segment Relocation Project according to the final comments posted to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources project website on August 17th. The comments were collected as part of the DNR’s four-month-long public comment period on its Draft Environmental Impact Statement of the Line 5 Wisconsin Segment Relocation project. By contrast, just over 5,300 Wisconsinites opposed the project.
“Wisconsinites are proud to support the jobs, affordable energy and economic development that come with this commonsense project,” stated Scott Suder, president of the Wisconsin Paper Council. “At a time when our country is seeing soaring energy prices, our state’s families, workers and businesses can’t afford to allow an opportunity like the Line 5 relocation project to pass us by.”
While support for the Line 5 relocation project was overwhelming among Wisconsinites who proudly identified their Wisconsin roots, the vast majority of comments in opposition to the project came from individuals who refused to identify what state, or even country, they were from.
Among those submitting comments in support of the project were over two dozen of the leading organizations in the state representing farmers, small businesses, labor unions and papermakers. Groups the submitted comments in favor of the project included the Wisconsin Corn Growers Association, Wisconsin Propane Gas Association, Wisconsin Building Trades Council, Wisconsin Counties Association, Wisconsin Electric Cooperative Association, Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation, Wisconsin Independent Businesses, Wisconsin Industrial Energy Group, Wisconsin Laborers’ District Council, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, Wisconsin Paper Council, Wisconsin Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association, Wisconsin Pipe Trades, Wisconsin Restaurant Association, Wisconsin Soybean Association, Cooperative Network, Dairy Business Alliance, Great Lakes Timber Professionals Association, Building Trades Council of South Central Wisconsin, Construction Business Group, International Union of Operating Engineers Local 139, Midwest Food Processors Association, North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters, Northern Wisconsin Building and Construction Trades Council and Teamsters Local 346.
“The Line 5 relocation project is completely within the State of Wisconsin, to be built by Wisconsin union workers, and will benefit the Wisconsin economy,” said Wisconsin’s International Union of Operating Engineers Local 139 President Terry McGowan. “Wisconsin’s trades men and women are some of the best trained skilled workers on the planet, and I’m glad to see our fellow Wisconsinites understand the importance of not only the jobs this project will bring, but the long-term benefit our state will see from the continued operation of Line 5.”
“While we understand the out-of-state interest in this project, Wisconsin voices should take priority on a project that impacts our state,” Bill Johnson, president of Northwoods based Johnson Timber, stated. “Northern Wisconsin is the natural jewel of our state and I encourage those from California and New York who commented against the project to come visit our state, where Line 5 has safely operated for decades. As a Northwoods property owner with an Enbridge pipeline passing through it, I am proud to support the Line 5 relocation project.”
An independent economic impact study estimated the Line 5 relocation project would add $135 million to Wisconsin’s economic output, increase state tax revenues by millions and support more than 1,000 jobs in the State of Wisconsin. Enbridge has signed a letter of intent with Wisconsin-based Michels Pipeline, Inc. as the mainline contractor for the project, and a Project Labor Agreement was recently signed with the Laborers International Union of North America, International Union of Operating Engineers, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters.
