Gottinger writes: "Water Protectors have taken action in Northern Minnesota to block construction of the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline, which received final approval this week."
Indigenous water protectors and allies are marching to Enbridge oil terminal in Clearbrook, MN, October 14, 2019. (photo: Resist Line 3)
Water Protectors Take Action in Minnesota to Block Construction of Tar Sands Pipeline
05 December 20
ater Protectors in Minnesota have taken action in Northern Minnesota to block construction of the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline, which received final approval this week.
Two protesters launched tree sits in Minnesota’s Aitkin County Forest, which is set to be cleared for construction of the pipeline, a group of activists blocked pipeline construction along the Mississippi, and another group of indigenous women held a prayer vigil that also shut down construction at a separate location.
Dawn Goodwin, from the White Earth tribe, used her body to directly block construction equipment while chanting “Treaties are the supreme law of the land.”
Police required some activists to move away from construction equipment, but made no arrests.
The Water Protectors from the Giniw Collective made statements from their tree sits.
“As I look out over the Mississippi River, the central artery of life on the Northern half of Turtle Island, I am comfortable in the certainty that we’re on the right side of history following the biological imperative encoded in our very DNA – to cherish life,” said Willow.
“Water is not invincible. That’s why I am here. Because Line 3 is a threat to the waters I hold dear, and that we all rely on,” said Liam DelMain also of Giniw Collective. “It is a project that disregards the treaty rights of indigenous people, accepts the inevitable toxic spills into waterways, and greatly heightens the death toll of the COVID-19 pandemic in local communities. I am here, putting my body on the line, because I have been left with no other choices.”
Enbridge received final approval from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency this week and began construction of the 340-mile pipeline after five years of legal battles. Minnesota environmental activists have been pushing the state’s Democratic governor, Tim Waltz, to block the final approval of the pipeline.
The new pipeline would replace a 50-year-old pipeline and would carry an average of 760,000 barrels of oil per day between Alberta and the Enbridge terminal in Superior, Wisconsin.
The Red Lake Band of Chippewa, the White Earth Bands of Ojibwe, and the Mille Lacs Band all say the pipeline will contaminate their water and land, poisoning their wild rice and destroying their way of life.
Chippewa and Ojibwe Tribes, Friends of the Headwaters, Sierra Club, and Honor the Earth filed a new lawsuit this week in a last-minute effort to stop construction of the pipeline.
The lawsuit states that the approval of the pipeline is out of step with science and the will of Minnesotans.
“We will not stop fighting to ensure that this dangerous tar sands pipeline expansion is never completed,” Sierra Club North Star Chapter director Margaret Levin stated.
Last week, Winona LaDuke, from Honor the Earth, said, “We’re deeply concerned after having been veterans of Standing Rock – of the $38 million of military repression – we expect to be unleashed to benefit Enbridge in Northern Minnesota against the thousands of people who have opposed this pipeline. Seventy thousand people have opposed Enbridge’s pipeline and many of us are women and children, and we expect a full-on military assault of military equipment onto our people.”
As part of the conditions of the approval, Enbridge is barred from running “counterinsurgency” operations against pipeline protesters; however, protesters say they’re already experiencing police and private security tactics reminiscent of Standing Rock.
Environmental activists believe Enbridge is racing to begin the pipeline construction before President-elect Biden is sworn in on January 20. Biden has not yet commented on the Enbridge 3 pipeline, but he has come out against the Keystone XL pipeline. Climate activists are pushing Biden to sign an executive order to block Enbridge 3 Pipeline, Keystone XL, and the Dakota Access pipeline.
Paul Gottinger is a staff reporter at RSN whose work focuses on the Middle East and the arms industry. He can be reached on Twitter @paulgottinger or via This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News.
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