Tar Sands Line 3

TRIBAL LIAISON IN MINNESOTA PIPELINE REVIEW IS SIDELINED AFTER OIL COMPANY COMPLAINS TO GOVERNOR

A CONTROVERSIAL PROPOSAL for a tar sands oil pipeline has led indigenous leaders in Minnesota to threaten an uprising similar to the one near Standing Rock last fall. That conflict began with what tribes described as the federal government’s failure to properly consult with nearby tribal communities prior to permitting the Dakota Access Pipeline project.

In July, Danielle Oxendine Molliver, the tribal liaison brought on by Minnesota’s Department of Commerce to consult with indigenous leaders about Enbridge Energy’s Line 3 pipeline, resigned in protest of what she called a flawed environmental review process that lacked transparency, professionalism, and fairness.

In a resignation letter submitted on July 24, Oxendine Molliver stated, “There are a multitude of reasons why I have come to this decision. The single most important one is the failure of the state of Minnesota to fulfill its obligations of good faith and fair dealing with the tribes in connection with the Line 3 project.”....

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At the meeting that led Enbridge to complain about Oxendine Molliver, Winona LaDuke, a longtime environmental activist who played a key role in the movement to kill Sandpiper, described her takeaways from the draft environmental impact statement. “When you go all the way through it, it says, we heard you. We heard that your people are hurting. We heard that your people can barely hang on. We heard that this is the only land you have. We heard that this is the only wild rice you have. We heard that your communities are already under a lot of duress. We heard that your communities are already sick from contaminants,” she said. “But mitigation is gonna be good.

“We don’t want to throw down a camp like Standing Rock, but this is not Morton County — you’re not getting another pipeline through here,” she added. “And there are hundreds of Ojibwe people and thousands of other people that are going to stop that line if you approve a permit. So we’d just like to stop it before we get to that.”

Opponents of Enbridge Line 3 publicly launched two camps on Wednesday, one on the White Earth reservation and another near the Fond du Lac reservation.

The final decision on the pipeline isn’t expected until next April.

..includes video

Direct Action Ramps Up Resistance to Line 3

Resistance against Enbridge’s Line 3 Pipeline expansion is ramping up. Near the Fon du Lac Reservation, at the frontline camp, Makwa, water protectors, land defenders, warriors, and others have participated in a wave of civil disobedience that has resulted in 16 arrests in multiple actions that have delayed construction work on the pipeline in the last month. On the morning of September 18, Unicorn Riot covered another direct action to stop construction on the Wisconsin side of the Minnesota-Wisconsin border.

Indigenous-Led Protest Shuts Down Banks in Seattle

At 11 o'clock this morning, four people chained themselves to a structure blocking an entrance of the Bank of America on 5th and Olive Street. Two of them locked themselves to the apex of a tripod, suspended at least a dozen feet in the air. The protesters were still there as of 2 p.m, blocking people from entering the bank.

Around the corner of the building was Feanette Black Bear, 65, holding the end of a sign blocking the building's other entrance and a bundle of sage. "We shut down business today!" she said.

For Black Bear, who is Lakota, today's action grows out of what she calls "an awakening for future generations."

"I'm here in support of our future generations, the unborn, and for the people here today, for Mni Wiconi, for treaty rights," Black Bear said, using the Lakota rallying cry heard at Standing Rock last year, and since then, the world over. In Lakota, Mni Wiconi translates to "water is life."

The Bank of America protest is just one of 100 demonstrations taking place across Seattle as part of Divest the Globe, a three-day activism campaign organized by Mazaska Talks, an indigenous-led coalition including Lakota educator Matt Remle and Muckleshoot activist Rachel Heaton, with support from 350 Seattle's Alec Connon. Remle reported on Twitter that at least one other bank was shut down in Seattle.

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Organizer Rachel Heaton told The Stranger that Mazaska Talks—Mazaska being the Lakota term for "shiny metal," as in money—urges people to divest themselves from banks that finance private prisons and pipelines. While activists targeted Bank of America because of its involvement in financing Alberta tar sands extraction, Heaton said that the days of action are also meant to draw attention to the 92 banks meeting in Brazil this month that have signed on to the "Equator Principles," a framework that's supposed to help guide financial institutions' social and environmental responsibilities when financing new projects.

Student Pipeline Action Committee

The Student Pipeline Action Committee (SPAC) is pleased to announce its second “Water is Life” Fundraising Campaign! SPAC was formed in January 2017 by a group of first year law students from Robson Hall, and has since been ratified as an official student group recognized by the University of Manitoba, with an expanded mandate:

“SPAC is committed to supporting action and resistance against pipelines in North America, and furthering the dialogue concerning the detrimental environmental and human impacts of resource extraction.”

In support of this mandate, we hosted a speaker panel, “Beyond Borders: Pipeline Resistance From Standing Rock to Manitowapow” – bringing together legal, grassroots, and frontline perspectives. Following the success of this event, we are pleased to launch our next “Water is Life” Fundraising Campaign.

Inspired by the action of Water Protectors, the messaging is simple: “Water is Life”. Water and environmental protection has been at the heart of the many conversations across North America on the topic of pipelines and resource extraction. The design was created by Anishinaabe artist and graphic designer Danielle H. Morrison using the woodlands style of Norval Morrisseau. The visual depicts the interconnectedness of land, animals, and water, and is circular in essence to represent the cycle of life.....

Pipeline resistance planning meeting #2

Tuesday, November 21 at 5:30 PM - 8:30 PM UTC-06

320 Colony St. 2nd Floor Multipurpose room. Winnipeg, MB. Buzzer code 1306

APR17

Stop Line 3!

Tuesday, April 17 at 6 PM - 8 PM UTC-06

320 Colony St. 2nd Floor Multipurpose Room. Winnipeg

Hosted by Manitoba Energy Justice Coalition

© Jackie Fawn Illustrations

'There's a ton riding on this': Enbridge pipeline project dealt blow in Minnesota

Enbridge's oil pipeline was old, unreliable and prone to leaking. Its proposed replacement had federal approval in Canada and a presidential permit in the United States.

That's why compared to the other oil export projects proposed from Alberta — TransCanada's Keystone XL and Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain expansion — this pipeline was assumed to face far fewer hurdles.

However, the oilpatch is witnessing how even a project considered straightforward still faces significant delays and a difficult regulatory process.

And the real protests haven't even begun.

"I would have thought Line 3 would have had the easier time moving forward," said Jennifer Rowland, a senior equity analyst with Edward Jones, based in St. Louis. "And yet, a line like that even faces so much opposition. It speaks to the mindset and attitude toward pipelines."

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Judge's report

This week, an administrative law judge in Minnesota delivered a report for the state Public Utilities Commission (PUC) on Enbridge's application to replace and expand the Line 3 pipeline. Instead of providing a clear verdict about whether the pipeline should be approved, the report complicates the situation even further.

The PUC will make the final decision on the project in June. Experts say the commission often follows the recommendations it receives.

"There's a ton riding on this project — not only for Enbridge, but for the whole basin, in general, in Western Canada. It's a very important project," said Patrick Kenny, an analyst with National Bank in Calgary.

The Canadian portion of the project will cost an estimated $5.3 billion Cdn, while the American section has a price tag of $3.6 billion Cdn.

The judge suggested Enbridge construct a new Line 3 parallel to the existing pipeline, which travels through territories of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe and the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Both Minnesota Indigenous groups oppose the project and both have existing agreements with Enbridge that expire around 2029.

"That definitely creates a pretty big wrinkle here as far as what the regulatory agency might decide to do in June," said Rowland. "There is opposition to the pipeline in some of those tribal areas that the existing corridor already goes through. So I think for the sake of speed of permitting, they prefer a different route."

Enbridge had suggested a different path through the state, which would reduce the environmental impact, the company said.

Removing old pipe

According to the report, the existing pipeline corridor would isolate the risk of a spill, prevent the establishment of a new pipeline corridor in an environmentally sensitive part of the state and "prevent the abandonment of nearly 300 miles of steel pipeline."

Enbridge proposed to clean and decommission the existing 1960s line before leaving the steel pipe in the ground. However, the judge recommends Enbridge remove the old pipe, which would increase costs for the company.

Enbridge appreciated how the report stressed the need for the project, but the company disagreed with the routing decision and will keep pushing for its preferred route.. On Tuesday, the day after the report was released, the company's shares fell more than five per cent.

The bright spot for Enbridge is the judge's belief the new pipeline is needed in Minnesota.

Pipeline “poison approvals”: a new trend?

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This week, a decision by an Administrative Law Judge regarding the Line 3 tar sands pipeline in Minnesota became the latest in the trend.The decision, at first glance, looks like an approval for Enbridge to build a new tar sands pipeline (“Line 3”) through Minnesota. But at second glance, the picture is far less clear. The Judge recommended that Enbridge’s preferred route be denied, and that the 7th (yes, you read that right, the SEVENTH) alternative route be the only one considered for ultimate approval by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission.

That seventh alternative route requires Enbridge to dig up the existing Line 3 pipeline, which is 50 years old and is no longer safe, and build a new larger Line 3 in what would be the vacant trench – a task Enbridge estimates would cost an extra $1.28 billion. Enbridge’s preference is to have a new corridor approved for the new Line 3 and to literally abandon the existing pipeline, leaving it in place, unused, for years to come. The Judge said that would be of no benefit to Minnesotans.

The Judge determined that to abandon the existing pipeline in-place would put Minnesota taxpayers on the hook for any remediation deriving from the degradation of the pipeline in Minnesota soil, meaning that the only option in which Minnesotans would benefit is one in which the existing pipeline is dealt with by Enbridge. While we would contend that pipeline companies should always be required to clean up the mess they leave behind, this is nevertheless an important admission by the Judge.

The Judge wrote:

Applicant seeks to decommission and abandon its old Line 3 in place. That would mean nearly 300 miles of steel infrastructure being abandoned in Minnesota, where it will remain for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. In addition, the easements that Applicant has obtained from landowners for the new Line 3 allow it to “idle in place” the new line, thereby signaling to the Commission that Applicant also intends to someday abandon the new Line 3 when it no longer serves Applicant’s needs.

The abandonment of the old Line 3 and the creation of a new corridor leaves open the possibility of thousands of miles of Enbridge pipelines someday being abandoned in- place when they are no longer economically useful to Applicant. This is particularly true in a carbon-conscious world moving away from fossil fuels; a move that Minnesota aspires to follow.

Environment, tribal groups rally to fight Line 3 oil pipeline

With just weeks left before Minnesota regulators decide the fate of Enbridge Energy's contentious Line 3 oil pipeline proposal, activists are gearing up their years-long fight against the project.

A cadre of environmental and tribal groups camped in downtown St. Paul on Friday and Saturday for an anti-Line 3 rally and to take pledges from people who promise to continue fighting the pipeline, if it's approved.

"The pledge of resistance says that we stand united against this proposed pipeline because of the threat it proposes to our air, our water, wild rice, Anishinaabe treaty territory and our climate," said Akilah Sanders-Reed, a climate activist. "As one of the dirtiest kinds of oil on earth, tar sands oil contributes to climate change more than any other kind of oil."

The activists' camp was outside the Public Utilities Commission's office. The agency's five commissioners will have final say on whether to give Enbridge the necessary permits to build Line 3.

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For Rose Whipple, a 17-year-old climate indigenous-rights activist, that's not OK.

"Sometimes when I'm at home and I really think about it, I start to cry because I don't wanna think about what would happen if this goes through and what those communities up there would have to face. Their wild rice is at risk." And the risk of oil contaminating wild rice waters, she said, threatens the Anishinaabe way of life in northern Minnesota.

This weekend's rally included art, a concert, a wild rice meal and a water ceremony on the Mississippi.

It wrapped up Saturday with a "direct action training" for people who pledged to resist Line 3. Organizers kept a reporter out of the training due to participants' fears of a bill under consideration at the Legislature that would increase penalties for protesters.

The Public Utilities Commission has set four days of hearings and deliberations next month on Enbridge's proposed pipeline....

NOW ENBRIDGE WANTS TO PAY LANDOWNERS TO LET THEM ABANDON OLD LINE 3

Yesterday, Friday, June 22, Enbridge submitted a document to the Line 3 docket outlining the 5 last-minute promises they’ve made recently in desperate attempts to push the PUC to approve their proposed new corridor. In that document, they propose a “Landowner Choice Program” to determine where to remove the old Line 3 pipeline. Their plan is to send each landowner a letter asking them if they want Line 3 removed from their property. That sounds reasonable enough. But deep in the document, Enbridge also says they plan to offer each landowner money to let them leave the corroded, leaky pipe in the ground.

Faced with the costs of digging up and removing an old pipeline, along with the inevitable contamination they will find underneath, Enbridge will approach these landowner negotiations with very deep pockets. And these are some of the poorest areas in the state of Minnesota. That kind of power imbalance, especially in light of Enbridge's consistent track record of dishonesty and bullying, makes informed consent and “landowner choice” impossible. Enbridge even says in this document that they don’t expect to remove much pipe. This is not a proposal to remove the old line, it is a proposal to throw money at the problem, sweep it under the rug, and pass it on to future generations. Enbridge is giving the PUC the option to shirk their responsibility to regulate this mess and instead just throw each individual landowner to the dogs.  

Landowners on the existing corridor have spoken out passionately against pipeline abandonment, and reminded Minnesota that their decision on Line 3 will set precedent for the 3 other ancient Enbridge pipelines in their Mainline System, as well as many others in the future.  Landowners on the proposed new route have also spoken out against a new energy corridor through their communities....

PRESS RELEASE: Spirit of Buffalo Camp

This morning, Indigenous resistance to Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline expansion set up a prayer camp in Treaty 1 territory near Gretna, Manitoba, meters away from the Canadian/United States border. Spirit of the Buffalo Camp was established by lighting a sacred fire and conducting a sunrise ceremony, and is situated along the route for the Line 3 pipeline.

Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline “replacement” project is the corporation’s largest project in history. Enbridge is marketing the project as a necessary “replacement” of an older pipeline, but the new pipeline will be nearly double the current capacity, making this project a significant expansion. Enbridge also plans to leave most of the older pipeline to decay in the ground.

Spirit of the Buffalo camp demands that Enbridge stop building the pipeline because it does not have free, prior and informed consent of all Indigenous peoples along the route, and is a direct violation of the United Nations Declaration of Indigenous Peoples Rights. The camp also demands that Enbridge remove the current Line 3 pipeline instead of leaving it to decay in the ground....

Opponents of Line 3 pipeline replacement project file appeals in Minnesota

Opponents of Enbridge’s plan to replace its aging Line 3 crude oil pipeline across northern Minnesota filed appeals Wednesday to challenge the state Public Utilities Commission’s approval of the project.

Environmental and tribal groups filed their initial notices with the Minnesota Court of Appeals against the commission’s decision to grant a certificate of need for the pipeline. The state Department of Commerce, which opposed the project during the regulatory process, has not said if it will appeal.

The appellants will also include the Youth Climate Intervenors, a group of 13 people ages 25 and under that was granted official “intervenor” status in the commission’s proceedings. They plan to file their appeal before Friday’s deadline.

“We’re appealing because the Public Utilities Commission blatantly ignored climate science in making their decision,” said Akilah Sanders-Reed, 24. “The decision they made had little or no justification as to why they overlooked the expert opinions of many of the intervening parties and the Minnesota Department of Commerce in particular, and the (administrative law) judge who reviewed the record, all of whom said Enbridge’s project shouldn’t be permitted.”

The teenagers and 20-somethings in the Youth Climate Intervenors got the opportunity to testify and to cross-examine Enbridge’s witnesses before the PUC. They’re being represented in the appeal by student-lawyers with the University of Minnesota Law School’s Energy and Environment Legal Clinic.

Wednesday’s filings included a joint appeal by the Red Lake and White Earth bands of Ojibwe, Honor the Earth and the Sierra Club; and one by Friends of the Headwaters.

The movement to stop Line 3 is growing! Recently thousands showed up on the shores of Gichi-gami and marched to the frontlines of Enbridge’s pipeline terminal. Now is a critical time to come together again before winter when Line 3 construction is officially planned to begin.

On Nov. 22-25, Ginew Collective invites you to show up in solidarity to protect our water, treaty rights, and build community with the skills you’ll need to stop line 3. This camp is open to all and will also offer an advanced training track for those who’ve been trained at camp before.