Wisconsin agency issues first round of permits for Enbridge Line 5 reroute around reservation

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Wisconsin agency issues first round of permits for Enbridge Line 5 reroute around reservation

2024-11-15 06:15 Last Updated At：06:21

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has issued the first round of permits allowing Enbridge to reroute an aging pipeline around a tribal reservation.

DNR officials announced Thursday they have issued the first construction permits for the Line 5 reroute around the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa's reservation. The energy company still needs discharge permits from the DNR as well as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The DNR issued the construction permits with more than 200 conditions attached. The company must complete the project by Nov. 14, 2027, hire DNR-approved environmental monitors and allow DNR employees to access the site during reasonable hours.

The company also must notify the agency within 24 hours of any permit violations or hazardous material spills affecting wetlands or waterways; can’t discharge any drilling mud into wetlands, waterways or sensitive areas; keep spill response equipment at workspace entry and exit points; and monitor for the introduction and spread in invasive plant species.

Enbridge officials issued a statement praising the approval, calling it a “major step” toward construction that will keep reliable energy flowing to Wisconsin and the Great Lakes region.

Bad River tribal officials warned in their own statement Thursday that the project calls for blasting, drilling and digging trenches that would devastate the area's wetlands and streams and endanger the tribe's wild rice beds. The tribe noted that investigations identified water quality violations and three aquifer breaches related to the Line 3 pipeline’s construction in northern Minnesota.

“I'm angry that the DNR has signed off on a half-baked plan that spells disaster for our homeland and our way of life,” Bad River Chairman Robert Blanchard said in the statement. “We will continue sounding the alarm to prevent yet another Enbridge pipeline from endangering our watershed.”

Line 5 transports up to 23 million gallons (about 87 million liters) of oil and natural gas daily from Superior, Wisconsin, through Michigan to Sarnia, Ontario. About 12 miles (19 kilometers) of the pipeline run across the Bad River reservation.

The tribe sued Enbridge in 2019 to force the company to remove the pipeline from the reservation, arguing the 71-year-old line is prone to a catastrophic spill and land easements allowing Enbridge to operate on the reservation expired in 2013.

Enbridge has proposed a 41-mile (66-kilometer) reroute around the reservation's southern border.

The company has only about two years to complete the project. U.S. District Judge William Conley last year ordered Enbridge to shut down the portion of pipeline crossing the reservation within three years and pay the tribe more than $5 million for trespassing. An Enbridge appeal is pending in a federal appellate court in Chicago.

Michigan’s Democratic attorney general, Dana Nessel, filed a lawsuit in 2019 seeking to shut down twin portions of Line 5 that run beneath the Straits of Mackinac, the narrow waterways that connect Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. Nessel argued that anchor strikes could rupture the line, resulting in a devastating spill. That lawsuit is still pending in a federal appellate court.

Michigan regulators in December approved the company’s $500 million plan to encase the portion of the pipeline beneath the straits in a tunnel to mitigate risk. The plan is awaiting approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Brief altercation between fans mars France-Israel soccer match despite heavy security

2024-11-15 06:19 Last Updated At：06:21

PARIS (AP) — There was a brief altercation between a small number of fans early into Thursday's Nations League soccer game between France and Israel despite heavy security inside the stadium, a week after violence erupted in Amsterdam in connection with an Israeli club team’s visit.

Around 10 minutes after the game kicked off as scheduled at 8:45 p.m. local time, there was scuffle in the top section of the stand behind one of the goals, with some of those involved having Israeli flags draped over their backs. It was not clear what caused the altercation and security intervened after around one minute.

The match finished in a 0-0 draw with no further incidents at Stade de France. However, Israel's national anthem was whistled by some fans when the players lined up and Israel players were jeered at times when they got the ball.

Chants of “Israel, Israel” could he heard from visiting fans for several minutes before the final whistle.

French police chief Laurent Nuñez said 4,000 police officers and security staff were deployed in and around the stadium, with another 1,500 police on public transport.

Several buses carrying Israel fans arrived under police escort and some were waving flags inside the stadium. Only about 16,600 of 80,000 tickets were sold, with around 150 Israel supporters present.

Paris authorities have been on high alert following the violence in Amsterdam before and after a Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Dutch authorities said fans from both sides were involved in the unrest. The assaults on Maccabi fans sparked outrage and were widely condemned as antisemitic.

“What we learned from Amsterdam is that we need to be present in the public space including far away from the stadium," and in public transport, Nuñez said Thursday on French news broadcaster France Info.

A couple of hours before the game, a pro-Palestinian demonstration attracted several hundred people to a square in Saint-Denis to protest against the match taking place.

Israel's team bus arrived at the stadium shortly after 7 p.m. local time. Around one hour before kickoff, Nuñez visited the stadium’s video surveillance facilities along with French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau.

Three months after hosting the Olympic closing ceremony, the atmosphere has gone from festive to fearful. French President Emmanuel Macron and Retailleau was present, along with former presidents Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy.

“We will not give in to antisemitism, anywhere. And violence, including in the French Republic, will never prevail, nor will intimidation,” Macron told BFM TV channel before the game.

The low number of visiting fans on Thursday came after Israel’s National Security Council warned citizens abroad to avoid sports and cultural events, specifically Thursday's match.

Retailleau told French news channel TF1 earlier this week that exceptional measures were justified, despite no official threat being received.

The elite tactical unit of the French National Police, known as RAID, was in the stadium and some police in plain clothes mingled with fans. There was also heavy surveillance within Paris, including at Jewish places of worship and schools.

“It is out of the question that we take the risk of seeing a repeat of the dramatic events, of the manhunt, that we saw in Amsterdam,” Retailleau said, adding that postponing or moving the game elsewhere was ruled out.

In Amsterdam, a number of Maccabi fans attacked a cab and chanted anti-Arab slogans while some men carried out “hit and run” attacks on people they thought were Jews, according to city Mayor Femke Halsema.

After the match, parts of a large group of Maccabi supporters armed with sticks ran around “destroying things,” a 12-page report on the violence issued by Amsterdam authorities said.

There were also “rioters, moving in small groups, by foot, scooter or car, quickly attacking Maccabi fans before disappearing,” it said.

Protests erupted in Paris on Wednesday night against a controversial gala organized by far-right figures in support of Israel.

Nine years ago, Stade de France was one of several locations during the Nov. 13 terror attacks in which 130 people died. France was playing Germany that night when two explosions happened outside the stadium.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer