The Environment in Canada Podcast Enbridge vs. Indigenous Sovereignty, Line 5 vs. The Great Lakes
Sep 30, 2025
Gracie Waukechon, a youth tribal activist and member of the Bad River Band, passionately discusses the vital issues surrounding Enbridge's Line 5 pipeline. She highlights how this pipeline threatens Indigenous sovereignty and the ecosystems of the Great Lakes. Gracie shares her personal connection to both the Menominee and Bad River nations and the generational struggle for land protection. She emphasizes the importance of cross-border solidarity and how environmental actions resonate with cultural lifeways, urging listeners to engage in the fight for a safer future.
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Aging Cross-Border Pipeline Risk
- Line 5 is a 645-mile pipeline from Alberta to Ontario that crosses U.S. tribal lands and was built to last 50 years.
- It now operates decades past its design life and has a documented rupture history that raises safety concerns.
Reroute Still Threatens Ancestral Waters
- Bad River won a court order to remove Line 5 from the reservation and Enbridge proposed a 41.1-mile reroute under waterways.
- The reroute still threatens wetlands and will send oil into waters that flow toward the reservation and Lake Superior.
Experts Call For Deeper Environmental Review
- Wisconsin DNR worked with Enbridge to permit the reroute, but independent geologists and hydrologists demand more study.
- Experts warn current testing and impact assessments are insufficient for these sensitive wetlands.