Guardian Pipeline Phase 2
WWA Works to Reduce Wetland Impacts
Phase 2 of the Guardian pipeline project includes a 119-mile mainline pipe to run from Green Bay to Ixonia (Washington County) and six lateral extensions to be managed by three different companies (Wisconsin Gas, WE Energies & Wisconsin Public Service Corporation). Construction for the 7 project includes 203 wetland crossings (103.8 acres) and 179 rivers and streams (57 perennial, 122 intermittent).
WWA’s efforts thus far include:
- June 2006: Appeared at a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission meeting held to solicit public input on the scope of Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Submitted written comments following the event.
- July 2007: Reviewed and commented on the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ (WDNR) Environmental Assessment for the project.
- September 2007: Submitted supplemental comments in response to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ public notice of the permit application to cross wetlands and waterways.
- October 2007: Met with WDNR to discuss permit conditions and how to improve department oversight of construction practices for the project.
- January 2008: Reviewed draft permit conditions and discussed our concerns with WDNR.
Results: WDNR issued the Guardian 2 permits on February 28, 2008. WWA’s ongoing communications with WDNR resulted in a number of permit improvements including:
- A minimum of five years of post-construction monitoring at the location of every wetland and waterway violation (to ensure adequate clean-up and restoration at those sites).
- A requirement that all project plans, including environmental control plans, be posted on a project web-site for the duration of the project (to improve public accountability for adherence to permit conditions).
- Limits on the construction right-of-way in wooded wetlands (to reduce traffic and tree clearing in these areas).
- A condition to maintain flags marking wetland boundaries for the duration of the project (to prevent unauthorized clearing in wetlands and to ensure the use of mandatory best management practices designed to reduce wetland impacts).
- Improved documentation of construction problems and wetland and waterway permit violations.
Guardian Pipeline Phase 1
WWA and Partners Settle Disputes over Guardian Pipeline Permitting
In late 2002 and early 2003, Wisconsin Wetlands Association, along with Neighbors Standing United (NSU) and a number of Waukesha and Walworth County property owners, objected to wetland fill and water crossing permits issued by the Wisconsin DNR for the Wisconsin Gas lateral pipeline. The Lateral Pipeline was to transport natural gas from the Guardian Pipeline at Ixonia to Brookfield to serve the greater Milwaukee market. WWA reported on the success we had, working within this coalition, in our spring 2003 newsletter. We were able to protect many of the wetlands that were threatened by pipeline project and to lessen wetland impacts through agreements for moderate route changes, the use of horizontal drilling technology in place of open-trench construction for some segments, and improved baseline monitoring and restoration requirements for the affected wetland areas.
Meanwhile, the Wisconsin DNR had already issued permits for the Guardian pipeline itself, running north from the Illinois border to Ixonia. NSU and a number of Jefferson County residents had requested a contested case hearing regarding issuance of those permits, believing that the permits were inadequate to protect the affected wetlands and aquatic systems. In the fall of 2002, WWA President Alice Thompson and former Executive Director Charlie Luthin each submitted evidence to the DNR, including photos, videotapes, personal observations, and witness statements, on behalf of those petitioners, documenting problems and permit violations caused by the Guardian Pipeline. In early 2003, WWA, NSU, and local residents submitted a 6 citizen complaint requesting a hearing under Section 299.91 of the Wisconsin Statutes for environmental pollution caused by the Pipeline. See a list of the permit violations and pollution caused by the Guardian Pipeline below.
WWA, NSU, and individual property owners persisted in efforts to obtain enforcement action against Guardian and improve wetland restoration requirements for the Pipeline. These efforts eventually resulted in a referral by the DNR to the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ). DOJ filed a civil suit for forfeitures and injunctive relief against Guardian and H.C. Price Company, the construction contractor, in November 2003. The DOJ and the defendants eventually settled this enforcement suit with an agreement to pay $100,000 in forfeitures to the State of Wisconsin, to pay an additional $100,000 for projects associated with furthering wetland research and preservation in Jefferson County, and to perform additional restoration work in the wetlands along the pipeline right-of-way. While the DNR and DOJ stressed that $200,000 in combined forfeitures and supplemental environmental project funding was virtually unprecedented for a wetlands enforcement matter in Wisconsin, WWA and our coalition partners had significant concerns regarding how the supplemental environmental project funding would be spent, as well as regarding some of the specific restoration requirements.
Ultimately, Dennis Grzezinski, the attorney who also represented the coalition in connection with DNR permitting for the lateral pipeline, with assistance from Alice Thompson, was able to negotiate a satisfactory settlement. WWA, local residents, and a local grass-roots organization worked hard to negotiate the settlement, which will ensure high quality restoration of some of the wetlands, and which will provide mitigation for the irreversible damage to others. Equally important, as a result of all of our efforts over the last two years, we believe both the DNR and the utility industry in Wisconsin now recognize the need for better, more coordinated planning. This should result in a reduction of negative impacts to wetlands and aquatic resources when similar projects are developed.
Neighbors Standing United, the landowner group affected by the Guardian Pipeline who first brought the contested case against the DNR for DNR’s failure to handle the Guardian Pipeline project in an appropriate manner, had this to say about WWA’s work on this project: "We have been fortunate to have the Wisconsin Wetlands Association and Alice Thompson come the aid of the citizens and the environment. Although we knew something was very wrong with what we saw happening, we lacked the expertise to understand it all. Now after a year and a half, Guardian has finally been called to task and we are hopeful that some of the environmental damage will be corrected. This could not have happened without the Wisconsin Wetlands Association. We are also pleased that some of Guardian’s forfeiture will be used in Jefferson County. The projects to which it was assigned are all worthy projects, and we are delighted that the Jefferson County Land Trust will receive a share of the funds. This will make it more affordable for landowners affected by Guardian to voluntarily preserve important natural resources along wetlands and waterways in Jefferson County."
