Advocacy meeting held to discuss Enbridge pipelines

A meeting tonight in Clark County was to discuss the construction of a new pipeline stretching through the whole state of Wisconsin, but a spokesman with the company linked to that project said there are no plans in place for it to be built.

The Enbridge pipeline system sends crude oil from Canada to the United States. Currently, the Canadian company operates four pipelines completely through Wisconsin - from a hub in superior down through Rock and Walworth counties.

Concerned citizens came to the historic Woodland Hotel in Owen on Tuesday night to hear and voice concerns over the lines that are in place as well as discuss a new pipeline that Enbridge had proposed through Wisconsin.

Mark Borchardt, the founder of the advocacy group “80 Feet is Enough!” said he has been opposed to the use of eminent domain to take land for use in construction.

"They are constantly digging it up and repairing it. Now, they're talking about additional pipelines,” he said to WEAU 13 News on Tuesday. "On my property and for many of the people in this room they surveyed an additional 300 feet – 300 feet more – to add to this 80-foot easement and there's talk of maybe even two more pipelines."

However, late Tuesday night, Scott Suder, a manager of state government and stakeholder relations for Enbridge told WEAU 13 News that project was proposed in 2014, but has since been deemed unnecessary and said they've worked to make homeowners aware of this.

"The market conditions have changed we don't have a customer base for a project and of course we've notified stakeholders that we don't have a project and you know we did not requested any environmental permits on the state or federal level for a new project."

Suder says Enbridge is working on an upgrade of what's called Line 61 – a 454-mile pipeline from superior to Pontiac, Ill. When it's done, he said the pipeline will have an average annual capacity of 1.2 million barrels per day.