Letter to the Editor: Let the Pipeline Relocation Move Forward

As someone who works in the propane industry and daily gets to speak to homeowners, farmers and business owners about the importance of affordable, plentiful propane, I know how much our state relies on this important source of energy.

Unfortunately, because some have turned a commonsense pipeline project in northern Wisconsin into a political football, our region’s propane supply could be at risk. The Line 5 pipeline, which delivers the natural-gas liquid that is turned into propane in the Midwest, is in the process of having a section of the pipeline relocated. This vital project will ensure that our area can continue to produce the propane that 280,000 Wisconsin homes depend on for heat.

This project is so important that major propane supplier Plains Midstream has warned that without it, our state could be plunged into a propane state of emergency and propane prices could reach all-time highs. This is a situation that will not only put Wisconsin families’ lives in jeopardy, but also seriously impact food prices and our economy.

Propane is too important to our state to make the Line 5 relocation a political target for those who wish to force us off this type of energy, without any solution for hundreds of thousands of our friends and neighbors to heat their homes. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources needs to quickly approve the permits to allow the Line 5 relocation project to move forward.

Scott Soucek

Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin