Line 3 Resistance
If you’ve read the news at all recently, you may have heard the name Line 3 once or twice. But if you’re like me, you may not know exactly what it is or why so much debate surrounds it. So, what exactly is Line 3? It’s a proposed pipeline replacement and expansion that would run from Alberta, Canada to Superior, Wisconsin and would carry tar sands, a type of petroleum deposit that can be refined into synthetic oil. Enbridge Energy, the company who is proposing the build, is seeking to replace an old Line 3 that was built in the 1960s and now has half a million defects. According to Enbridge’s own integrity engineers, there are up to 10 to 15 defects every mile of the existing pipeline. This means that it is at a high risk of leaking oil into the surrounding wetlands.
Environmental concerns
One of the biggest threats Line 3 poses is to the environment. Enbridge is responsible for the largest inland oil spill in the world, which occurred in March of 1993 when the old Line 3 ruptured near Grand Rapids. 1.68 million gallons of oil were spilled, and the damage would have been catastrophic if not for the fact that it was winter, so frozen rivers impeded the spread. In fact, all pipelines end up spilling at some point, and federal laws surrounding oil cleanup are extremely vague. This means that oil spill cleanup responsibility lies at the state level, and in Minnesota, there is no legal precedent for this - so any cleanup would most likely fall to individual landowners who may or may not have the funds to properly do so.
It has also been calculated that the addition of Line 3 would add nearly 193 tons of gas emissions to the atmosphere - the equivalent of adding 38 million cars to Minnesotan roads. This is clearly a step in the wrong direction if we are trying to get our emissions under 50 tons annually as Walz has committed to in the past.
Cultural concerns
Line 3 also poses a large threat to indigenous people throughout Minnesota. The proposed pipeline expansion crosses into land that legally belongs to the Anishinaabe people. It threatens to destroy much of the nature that allows them to hunt, fish, find alternative medicines, farm, and have clean air and water. One third of Minnesota’s wild rice wetlands have already been destroyed, and Line 3 threatens to destroy even more of these preserved wetlands.
Content warning: violence, murder, sexual abuse
The presence of Line 3 construction also threatens indigenous peoples’ safety. The temporary camps that spring up around construction of pipelines are known to be a hotbed of human trafficking and violence, taking advantage of the workers’ nomadic lifestyle to avoid being caught. This has been documented to be a cause of an uptick of violence in and near indigenous communities around Line 3 - already this month, two Line 3 workers have been caught in a human trafficking sting. The third leading cause of death for young indigenous women is murder.
Why are people still pushing for it?
At this point, you’re probably wondering why Enbridge and other supporters are still pushing for construction to happen. The first and most popular argument for the pipeline is that it would create jobs in rural Minnesota. And that’s true - it would offer temporary construction jobs to a large number of people. However, after the pipeline theoretically is finished, the total number of new, permanent jobs it would bring to Minnesota is just 12. The other, less surprising argument concerns money. Enbridge would be able to double its extraction loads, increasing revenue by a lot. However, the MN Department of Commerce has testified that there is no real need for this added amount of oil, and that any economic benefit it would bring would not positively affect Minnesota at all - all of the sales would take place outside of the state.
How you can help
Currently, construction on Line 3 is proceeding. On March 23rd, a Minnesota Court of Appeals heard arguments from opposing groups, and now has 90 days to issue their decision. On March 22nd, Enbridge won a case in two Minnesota tax courts claiming they have been overtaxed by the counties the pipeline travels through. These small counties are now facing having to pay refunds that make up the majority of or all of their budgets. Protests continue daily at Enbridge work sites.
So what can you do to help aid the fight for Line 3? There are many indigenous-led organizations and movements that have been at the forefront of this fight for the past seven years - listed below are a few ways to start getting involved:
MN350 is a local organization that coordinates frontline resistance to Line 3, distribution of donations to communities along the pipeline, and campaigns meant to help find and bring back missing indigenous women.
The Native Peoples DFL Caucus advocates for and supports indigenous peoples’ participation in local and federal government to enhance tribal sovereignty.
Rights of Mississippi is a grassroots movement attempting to gain legal rights for the Mississippi River to protect it from projects like Line 3, which will cross the Mississippi headwaters twice once completed.
Ginwi Collective is a indigenous-women led collective frontline resistance to protect the land of Minnesota.
Stop Line 3 is an organization that documents and provides information on the resistance.