Wisconsin issues Enbridge notice over Line 5 reroute

Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources issued a formal notice of violation to Calgary-based Enbridge on Tuesday, Oct. 13, alleging the company broke permit conditions and state environmental laws while building its Line 5 reroute in northern Wisconsin.

Updated Oct. 14, 2026.

The department said in a news release that the notice covers alleged violations from March 30 through Sept. 21 in Iron and Ashland counties. It cites water quality, wetlands, navigable waterways, air quality, stormwater and endangered resources rules, and says Enbridge built an unpermitted bypass around the Line 5 spill site near Saxon.

The notice is separate from the cleanup of the Aug. 25 rupture, which the department said happened when Line 5 was punctured during valve work. The department has named Enbridge a responsible party under the state spills law and is overseeing its investigation and cleanup.

The department’s release does not give penalty amounts or a date for the enforcement conference, a standard step where regulators and the company discuss the alleged violations. After that meeting, the department said it may issue citations and refer the case to the Wisconsin Department of Justice to seek forfeitures and court-ordered remedies.

Wisconsin Public Radio reported that the notice lists seven alleged violations, some of them repeated, including 18 instances between May 13 and Sept. 25 of breaching conditions of the company’s waterways and wetlands permit. It said the conference is set for Oct. 26 and that fines can reach $25,000 for each day of a violation. Those details were not in the department’s release.

WPR also reported that the August leak released more than 1.3 million gallons of natural gas liquids into the air, which it described as the largest oil and gas pipeline spill in Wisconsin. It said the department alleges Enbridge placed timber matting in wetlands and set up temporary bridges over navigable waterways for the bypass, built on or about Sept. 7, without required authorizations. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel also reported on the notice.

Enbridge spokesperson Juli Kellner said the company is reviewing the notice and that Enbridge “has worked closely with the WDNR through the permitting process,” WPR reported. The company has previously said it built the bypass in compliance with existing permits and a pending application to change its stormwater permit.

The reroute is a roughly $1-billion, 41-mile segment in Ashland and Iron counties, about two-thirds built and employing about 700 workers, WPR reported. Line 5 carries up to 23 million gallons a day of crude oil and natural gas liquids from Superior, Wis., to Sarnia, Ont. A federal appeals panel ruled in August that Enbridge must remove the line from the Bad River Band’s reservation but gave it more time to finish the reroute.

For Albertans and other Canadians, the dispute matters because Enbridge is headquartered in Calgary and Line 5 is a link in the pipeline system that moves oil and natural gas liquids to Ontario. The company has not said whether the notice will change its construction schedule, and any fines or court action would be decided after the enforcement conference.

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