CEAC-2021-01-January

News
Enbridge Starts Construction on Line 3
in Minnesota By Mohamed Ibrahim | Associated Press/Report for America
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Enbridge Energy began construction
on its Line 3 crude oil pipeline replacement in Minnesota
Dec. 1, a day after state regulators approved the final permit
for the $2.6 billion project amid legal challenges from local
activist and Indigenous groups.
Spokeswoman Juli Kellner said Enbridge began construction
in several locations around the state in the morning. Enbridge
spent years pursuing permits for the project before
the last one, a construction stormwater permit, was granted
Nov. 30 by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
“Line 3 can now begin to be an economic boost for counties,
small businesses, Native American communities, and union
members,’’ Kellner said in a statement. “The workforce will
ramp up as construction continues eventually creating over
4,000 family-sustaining, mostly local construction jobs, millions
of dollars in local spending and additional tax revenues
at a time when Northern Minnesota needs it most.’’
Two tribes — the Red Lake and White Earth Bands of Chippewa
— asked the PUC last week to stay its approval of the
project, saying the influx of construction workers would put
residents along the route at higher risk of COVID-19. A consolidated
appeal by environmental and tribal groups is also
pending before the Minnesota Court of Appeals.
Several activists and Indigenous groups filed a lawsuit Nov.
30 challenging the MPCA’s permit approval, citing the pipeline’s
threat to waters where Native Americans harvest wild
rice and negative effect on climate change.
Enbridge said that replacing the deteriorating pipeline,
which was built in the 1960s and runs at only half its original
capacity, is the best option for protecting the environment
while meeting the region’s energy needs.
Kellner said Enbridge has enacted strict guidelines to guard
against spread of the coronavirus, including testing workers
regularly and repeatedly, requiring mask-wearing and social
distancing and sanitizing work areas regularly.
In a recent statement, Winona LaDuke, executive director
of Honor the Earth, said that Enbridge will continue to see
legal challenges from activists and Indigenous groups to
“prevent this tar sands pipeline from ever being completed.’’
“As construction begins, some big questions need to be
asked: What if the Appeals Court sides against Enbridge in
the legal cases before it? What if the new Biden administration
squashes this pipeline? What is Enbridge’s plan if
its workforce gets corona?” LaDuke said. “Its ‘safety’ plan
doesn’t address what its workers do or where they go when
they’re not on the job.’’
Line 3 begins in Alberta, Canada, and clips a corner of North
Dakota before crossing Minnesota on its way to Enbridge’s
terminal in Superior, Wisconsin. The replacement segments in
Canada, North Dakota and Wisconsin are already complete,
leaving only the 337-mile (542-kilometer) stretch in Minnesota.
Altogether Enbridge expects to spend $2.9 billion on the
U.S. portion.
Mohamed Ibrahim is a corps member for the Associated
Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report
for America is a nonprofit national service program that places
journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered
issues.
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