The Bad River band of Lake Superior Chippewa filed a lawsuit against Enbridge Inc. on Tuesday aimed at forcing the company to shut down a key pipeline that crosses tribal lands in northern Wisconsin.

The pipeline transports oil and natural gas liquids from Canada to Michigan, including a controversial section that runs along the bed of the Straits of Mackinac between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.

The company is seeking to build a tunnel beneath the straits for a new pipeline but is facing fire from Democratic officials in Michigan.

Tuesday's lawsuit in U.S. District Court in western Wisconsin centers on the threat of a potential accident involving the 66-year-old pipeline and right-of-way easements between the tribe and the company that expired in 2013.

Tribal officials say that they no longer want Enbridge to operate the pipeline on tribal lands and fear that a rupture would pose grave environmental damage to the Bad River and other waters that flow to Lake Superior.

An Enbridge pipeline spill in 2010 on the Kalamazoo River in Michigan took years and more than $1 billion to clean up.

“As a community, we are sick of having to bear the fear and anxiety of this line being a constant threat to our community and resources,” said Dylan Bizhikiins Jennings, a tribal member.

In a statement, Enbridge spokeswoman Juli Kellner said that “Enbridge has been in good faith negotiations with the Bad River band of Lake Superior Chippewa tribe regarding these easements since 2013.”

While some parts of the pipelines lie on tribal land with expired easements, Kellner said “the vast majority” of the right of way on the reservation is governed by agreements with private landowners and a separate accord with the tribe that doesn’t expire until 2043.

According to court documents, the company’s pipeline crosses about 12 miles of reservation lands.

The pipeline is buried, but in its lawsuit, the tribe said it is especially concerned about a portion of a meandering channel of the Bad River that today rests 28 feet from the pipeline. In 1963, the line at that point stood more than a football field away.

Members of the tribe approved a resolution in January 2017 declaring that it would not approve new easements for the company.

The lawsuit is the latest question mark hanging over the pipeline, known as Line 5.

RELATED:Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel moves to shut down Enbridge Line 5

Michigan’s attorney general filed a lawsuit in state court last month that would shut down the pipeline across the Straits of Mackinac.

A successful outcome, in the view of Democratic officials in Michigan, would block Enbridge from digging a tunnel beneath the straits. The company said a tunnel for a replacement pipeline would eliminate damage from a potential oil spill.

Enbridge and supporters of the line have emphasized the economic importance of the line.

A separate Enbridge pipeline in Superior runs the length of Wisconsin to Illinois and has also generated opposition from nearby property owners and environmental groups.