PARK RAPIDS, Minn. – A judge in Minnesota has ruled that sheriff’s officials had no right to block access to a camp set up in opposition to the Enbridge Line 3 oil pipeline. In an order issued Tuesday, Hubbard County District Judge Jana Austad ruled the pipeline protesters were using a private driveway, not a county trail, to access Camp…
Willow River/Honor the EarthST. PAUL, Minn. – Minnesota environmental regulators say damage to the state’s public groundwater resources from mistakes during construction of the Line 3 oil pipeline is more severe than previously known. The state Department of Natural Resources says Enbridge Energy crews ruptured three groundwater aquifers while building the 340-mile pipeline across northern Minnesota last year. The DNR…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (KVRR) – An online petition asking Gov. Tim Walz and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison to drop all criminal charges against hundreds of demonstrators arrested in connection with the Line 3 pipeline protests in northern Minnesota has collected more than 14,000 signatures. Organizers say the charges are based on “brutal policing tactics,” the violation of treaty rights,…
Willow River/Honor the EarthMINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Enbridge has failed to meet a deadline set by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources for cleaning up a site where an aquifer ruptured during construction of the Line 3 oil pipeline. The DNR had given the company until Friday to repair the damage to the artesian aquifer near Clearbrook. Regulators will require compensation…
MINNESOTA & NORTH DAKOTA — Enbridge Energy’s Line 3 pipeline is complete and the company may begin shipping oil as soon as Friday. “People and workers are doing backflips, what can I say?” said Enbridge Chief Communication Officer Mike Fernandez. While those at Enbridge are celebrating a milestone, some tribal members and environmentalists are devastated. “It’s a really tragic day…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Enbridge announced Wednesday that the upgrade and expansion of its Line 3 pipeline across Minnesota is complete and will become operational on Friday. The Canada-based company’s President and CEO Al Monaco said in a statement that the pipeline “will soon deliver the low-cost and reliable energy that people depend on every day.” The project was completed despite…
BAGLEY, Minn. (KVRR) – Authorities say 23 people were arrested following a pipeline demonstration Tuesday in northwestern Minnesota. The Clearwater County Sheriff’s Office received a call regarding protesters blocking a road. The initial call reported that they were setting up a tee pee and barrels in the roadway and vehicles could not pass through. An early estimate of protesters was…
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Minnesota Court of Appeals has affirmed a decision by state pollution regulators to issue a water quality certification for Enbridge Energy’s Line 3 crude oil pipeline. It’s the latest setback for opponents as the project nears completion. The court ruled that the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s approval was “supported by substantial evidence in the record.”…
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota Supreme Court will not take up an appeal by tribal and environmental groups opposed to Enbridge Energy’s Line 3 oil pipeline project. A spokesperson for Enbridge says they are pleased with the decision. Minnesota Court of Appeals had earlier ruled that the Public Utilities Commission certificate of need and route permit was granted correctly. Enbridge…
WAUBUN, Minn. (KVRR) – Enbridge Energy, the Canadian company that owns the controversial Line 3 pipeline replacement project in northern Minnesota, has donated $366,000 to the Waubun-Ogema-White Earth Community Schools to subsidize internet access for low income families. Enbridge spokesperson Julie Kellner says the grant will provide “a combination of broadband and fiber infrastructure, and fund other services that will…
