Enbridge responds to Line 5 Natural Gas Liquids release in Wisconsin
August 25, 2026
Aug. 27, 2026 Line 5 incident update (posted at 7:36 p.m. CT)
Around 150 people are working on the response to the incident at a Line 5 valve project in northern Iron County, Wisconsin—including Iron County Emergency Management, the Iron County Sheriff’s Department, Ashland and Superior Hazardous Materials teams, local fire departments from Gurney, Saxon, and Kimball, and Enbridge response personnel. We want to thank all of the emergency responders for their expert support of the incident. There have been no injuries during the response.
For the safety of first responders, the local community and Enbridge response teams, the Iron County Sheriff has issued a “no-fly zone” over the site and access to the site is restricted.
On Tuesday, Aug. 25, a parked, unoccupied flatbed third-party subcontractor truck delivering equipment to the site rolled into an open excavation site on a Line 5 valve project, striking the pipe and releasing natural gas liquids (NGLs). No one was injured. As a precaution, a nearby rural home was evacuated. The affected section of pipe was immediately isolated, and Line 5 remains safely shut down.
Enbridge continues to work on the response and restoration of service to the pipeline.
As a reminder, the incident involves the release of natural gas liquids (NGLs)—not natural gas. NGLs are hydrocarbons that are separated from natural gas during processing. Common NGL products include propane, butane and ethane. These are used for heating homes and drying crops, as well as the building blocks for thousands of everyday products, including plastics, medical supplies, electronics, and clothing.
More information will be provided as it becomes available.
Aug. 26, 2026 Line 5 incident update (posted at 6:49 p.m. CT)
Enbridge crews continue to work with local emergency response teams to respond to a line strike in rural northern Iron County, Wisconsin.
On Tuesday, Aug. 25, a parked, unoccupied semi-truck rolled into an open excavation site on a Line 5 valve project, striking the pipe and releasing natural gas liquids (NGLs). No one was injured. As a precaution, a nearby rural home was evacuated. The affected section of pipe was immediately isolated, and Line 5 remains safely shut down.
Enbridge is working to stabilize the situation and restore service to the pipeline. Enbridge currently estimates the return to service of Line 5 between Aug. 31 and Sept. 5. Enbridge notes this is an estimated return to service range and will be providing regular updates. Enbridge is working alongside its impacted customers to mitigate the impact of this outage. This includes redirecting volumes across the Enbridge network, increasing connectivity and capacity where possible and working with parties on a regional basis to limit disruptions.
As a safety precaution the Iron County Sheriff has issued a “no fly zone” over the site and access to the site is restricted.
The incident involves the release of natural gas liquids (NGLs)—not natural gas. NGLs are hydrocarbons that are separated from natural gas during processing. Common NGL products include propane, butane, and ethane. These are used for heating homes and drying crops, as well as the building blocks for thousands of everyday products, including plastics, medical supplies, electronics, and clothing.
More information will be provided as it becomes available.
Aug. 25, 2026 statement
On Tuesday, Aug. 25, a parked, unoccupied semi-truck rolled into an open excavation site on a Line 5 valve project in rural northern Iron County, Wisconsin, striking the pipe and releasing Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs). No one was injured. As a precaution, a nearby rural home was evacuated.
The section of pipe was immediately isolated, and local emergency response crews are on site. Line 5 remains shut down.
We will provide more information as it becomes available.
