CALGARY, Oct 30 (Reuters) - The U.S. Army Corps of

Engineers has granted approval to Canadian company Enbridge ( ENB )

for its plan to reroute a section of its Line 5 oil

pipeline around a Wisconsin tribal reservation.

The Army Corps, a federal engineering service, issued a

permit Wednesday for Enbridge ( ENB ) to build a new 41-mile segment of

pipeline around the Bad River Reservation, to replace an

existing section that currently crosses tribal territory.

The Bad River Band filed a lawsuit in 2019 aimed at getting

the pipeline off its land, citing concerns about treaty rights

and the risk a potential oil spill would pose to Indigenous

people and the environment.

Enbridge ( ENB ) submitted permit applications to state and federal

regulators in 2020 for the Wisconsin relocation project. The

permit issued Wednesday is a major project milestone, an

Enbridge ( ENB ) spokeswoman said, though construction cannot begin

until multiple state permits issued last year are confirmed.

Opponents of Line 5, including environmental organizations,

have been contesting those permits, arguing Enbridge's ( ENB ) plans do

not properly protect Wisconsin's waterways.

Enbridge ( ENB ) said Thursday it is confident state permits will

soon be confirmed.

Enbridge's ( ENB ) Line 5 is a 645-mile oil pipeline constructed in

1953 that carries oil from Superior, Wisconsin, through Michigan

and into Ontario, Canada.

In addition to its plan to reroute a section of the pipeline in

Wisconsin, the company is planning to build a roughly 4-mile

tunnel to house the aging section of pipeline that crosses

through the Straits of Mackinac in the Great Lakes.

Michigan regulators had approved Enbridge's ( ENB ) application to

build the $750-million tunnel under the Great Lakes to house its

aging Line 5 oil pipeline in 2023, but the project still awaits

Army Corps permitting.

The Army Corps said earlier this year it plans to issue that

decision this fall.

(Reporting by Amanda Stephenson in Calgary; Editing by Chizu

Nomiyama )