MINNEAPOLIMEDIA NEWS | Federal Appeals Court Orders Enbridge to Remove Line 5 From Tribal Land

A federal appeals court has upheld a finding that Enbridge is trespassing on land belonging to the Bad River Band in northern Wisconsin and must remove a section of its Line 5 pipeline. The court, however, directed a lower court to reconsider the timeline for removal and recalculate the financial award owed to the tribe.

ASHLAND, WI (August 7, 2026)  A federal appeals court has ruled that Enbridge must remove its Line 5 oil pipeline from tribal land in northern Wisconsin, affirming that the Canadian energy company has been trespassing on the Bad River Band’s reservation.

The decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit represents a significant victory for the tribe in its yearslong dispute with Enbridge over sovereignty, environmental protection and the continued operation of the pipeline.

A roughly 12-mile segment of Line 5 crosses the Bad River Reservation. Some of the easements authorizing the pipeline to operate across individual parcels expired in 2013, but Enbridge continued using the route.

The Bad River Band filed its lawsuit in 2019 after negotiations with the company failed.

Removal order upheld, timeline reconsidered

The appeals court upheld the central finding that Enbridge is trespassing and must remove the pipeline from the affected tribal land.

However, it instructed the federal district court to reconsider the amount of time the company should receive to complete the removal. A previous order had established a three-year deadline.

The appeals court said the timeline must account for the broader public and international consequences associated with the pipeline, which crosses the United States-Canada border and supplies energy products throughout the Great Lakes region.

That decision does not eliminate the removal requirement. It sends the question of how quickly removal must occur back to the lower court.

Financial award must be recalculated

The court also ordered a reassessment of the monetary award against Enbridge.

A lower court previously ordered the company to pay approximately $5.15 million, along with additional penalties for continuing to operate on the reservation. The appeals court concluded that the calculation may have counted some of Enbridge’s financial benefits more than once.

The district court must now determine an appropriate amount based on the profits or costs Enbridge gained or avoided by continuing to use the disputed route.

Pipeline carries oil through Great Lakes region

Line 5 was built in 1953 and can transport up to approximately 540,000 barrels of petroleum products per day. The pipeline runs from western Canada through Wisconsin and Michigan before returning to Canada.

Enbridge maintains that Line 5 is an important part of the regional energy system. The company is developing a proposed 41-mile reroute around the Bad River Reservation, but tribal leaders and environmental organizations have separately challenged permits associated with that project.

The Bad River Band has raised concerns about the possibility of a pipeline failure near the Bad River, particularly as erosion has altered the riverbank close to the existing route.

The tribe has also maintained that the case is fundamentally about its authority to decide how its land is used after the underlying property agreements expire.

What happens next

The case will return to the federal district court for decisions on the removal schedule and damages.

Enbridge may continue pursuing its planned reroute while the legal and permitting proceedings move forward. The company’s ability to complete that project, and the amount of time ultimately allowed for removing the existing segment, remain unresolved.

The appeals court’s ruling nevertheless preserves the most consequential part of the earlier decision: Enbridge cannot operate Line 5 indefinitely across Bad River tribal land without valid authorization.

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