BAD RIVER BAND OF LAKE SUPERIOR TRIBE OF CHIPPEWA INDIANS CHIEF BLACKBIRD CENTER Box 39 ● Odanah, Wisconsin 54861 July 11, 2020 Ben Callan, WDNR Division of External Services PO Box 7921 Madison, WI 53708-7921
[email protected] RE: Comments Concerning the Enbridge Energy, LLC Line 5 Relocation around the Bad River Reservation regarding the WDNR Wetland and Water Crossing Permits and the EIS Scoping Dear Mr. Callan, As a sovereign nation with regulatory authority over downstream waters within the Bad River Watershed, on-Reservation air quality, and an interest in the use and enjoyment of the sacred waters of Anishinaabeg-Gichigami, or Lake Superior, pursuant to treaties we signed with the United States, we submit our comments related to the potential Line 5 Reroute around the Bad River Reservation proposed by Enbridge Energy, LLC (henceforth, “company” or “applicant”). The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians (henceforth, “Tribe”) is a federally-recognized Indian Tribe centered on the northern shores of Wisconsin and Madeline Island, where the Bad River Indian Reservation is located, but the Tribe also retains interest in ceded lands in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota. These lands were ceded to the United States government in the Treaties of 18371, 18422, and 18543. The proposed Line 5 Reroute falls within these ceded lands where the Tribe has retained usufructuary rights to use treaty resources. In addition, it threatens the water quality of the Tribe’s waters downstream, over which the Tribe has regulatory authority as a sovereign nation and as delegated by the federal government under the Clean Water Act.