[News] The Story of Line 3

[Anti-Imperialist News]

counterpunch.org
<https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/07/08/the-story-of-line-3/>
The Story of Line 3 by Theia Chatelle
<https://www.counterpunch.org/author/theia-chatelle/>- July 8, 2022
------------------------------

Image by Rodion Kutsaev.

When Enbridge Inc. <https://www.enbridge.com/> announced on September 29,
2021, its “Line 3 Replacement Project [was] Substantially Completed and Set
to be Fully Operational,” Winona LaDuke, Executive Director of Honor the
Earth <https://www.honorearth.net/>, issued a video response
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJpSAmbwuL4> from the White Earth
Reservation in Northern Minnesota. After years of fighting against
Enbridge’s efforts to desecrate Anishinaabe lands, Winona refused to give
up the fight. In her words, “They’ve created their jobs. They put in their
pipe. They won. They’ve committed a crime. And someone needs to stop them
from making a profit off of that crime. Do something for the people. Stop
Line 3 <https://www.stopline3.org/> and give us a ‘just transition.'”

Line 3 is a project of Enbridge Inc., a multinational corporation
headquartered in Alberta, Canada. Enbridge transports
<https://www.enbridge.com/media-center/enbridge-quick-facts> 30% of all oil
produced in North America and operates
<https://www.enbridge.com/media-center/enbridge-quick-facts> 76,546 miles
of pipeline across the continent. Last year, Enbridge reported yearly
revenue of $39.853B, a 33.53% increase year-over-year. Line 3 is part of
Enbridge’s Mainline System and runs 1,097 miles from Edmonton, Alberta, to
Superior, Wisconsin. Line 3 transports ‘tar sands oil,’ a variant of oil
that the Union of Concerned Scientists
<https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/what-are-tar-sands> denounces as “a
mixture of mostly sand, clay, water, and a thick, molasses-like substance
called bitumen…[which] on a lifetime basis…produces about 15% more carbon
dioxide emissions.” Built in 1960, Line 3 initially transported 760,000
barrels of oil a day. But, as of 2019, it could only transport 390,000, about
half the amount
<https://www.sierraclub.org/sites/www.sierraclub.org/files/sce/north-star-chapter/pdf/Line3FactSheet.pdf>.
Enbridge Inc. announced its Line 3 Replacement Project on October 24, 2014,
by filing a Notice Plan with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission
<https://mn.gov/puc/> (MPUC). In Enbridge’s words, the Line 3 Replacement
Project will “maintain … high safety standards…and restore the historical
operating capabilities of Line 3.”

But, the story of Line 3 is not that of “safety standards” and “operating
capabilities.” Instead, it is the story of Honor the Earth and the
Anishinaabe’s resistance against Line 3. It is the story of ‘manoomin
<https://ojibwe.lib.umn.edu/main-entry/manoomin-ni>,’ and Turtle Island
again being attacked by the “Black Snake.
<https://maptheblacksnake.com/#:~:text=Line%203%20cuts%20through%20the,but%20the%20entire%20Mississippi%20River.>”
And it is the story of the MPUC’s failure to honor treaty rights and
protect the Earth. Line 3 was not a failure of the State of Minnesota but
rather the logical consequence of a settler-colonial political system
determined to destroy the Earth and any potential for Native sovereignty.
Enbridge knew it would face a fight, as with the Dakota Access Pipeline and
Keystone XL. But, this time, it came prepared. It assembled the Northern
Lights Taskforce <https://www.facebook.com/NLTFMN/>, “brought jobs to
Minnesota
<https://www.enbridge.com/media-center/media-statements/line-3-replacement-creates-378-million-in-tribal-economic-opportunities-in-minnesota>,”
and pursued every legal and illegal option available to nullify resistance
to Line 3. Enbridge wielded its power to its advantage, and it won. But,
that doesn’t mean that the resistance failed.

Andy Pearson, Midwest Tar Sands Coordinator at MN350 <https://mn350.org/>,
who was also arrested at an MPUC hearing, said, “Although Line 3 is in the
ground, the fight against tar sands and pipelines…is something that does
continue and will continue. We’re seeing action against Line 5 in Northern
Wisconsin, and we’ll see more work to build against the Enbridge Mainline
System.” While Line 3 is just a single component of Enbridge’s vast
infrastructure holdings across the so-called United States, Enbridge
appeared determined to influence every unit of the State of Minnesota to
its advantage. Despite resistance by Honor the Earth, StopLine3,
MN350, the Giniw
Collective <https://www.facebook.com/giniwcollective/>, the Sierra Club
<https://www.sierraclub.org/>, and many others, Enbridge was able to use
the police, the legislature, and the PUC to neutralize the Anishinaabe
people and affiliated water protectors.

Enbridge’s relationship with Minnesota law enforcement is well established.
Before beginning construction on Line 3, Enbridge obtained a permit through
the MPUC that outlined its financial responsibilities to the State of
Minnesota, including Minnesota law enforcement. It states:

“Prior to construction, the Permittee shall establish a Public Safety
Escrow Account…Local Government Units (LGU) shall submit in writing an
itemized request to the Public Safety Liaison sufficient to recommend to
the Commission’s Executive Secretary whether services rendered were
additional municipal services uniquely provided as a result of construction
of the pipeline during the term of this permit.”

While Enbridge didn’t explicitly approve of nor solicit this inclusion,
it’s hard to imagine that they do not approve. The Northern Lights Task
Force, a coalition of Police Departments in Northern Minnesota, including
the Aitkin Police Department
<https://www.ci.aitkin.mn.us/index.asp?SEC=9A352E58-C1EB-49DD-A6AA-A5ACD5738EF1>
and Palisade Police Department
<https://www.co.aitkin.mn.us/departments/public-safety/public-safety.html>,
is also the direct beneficiary of this provision. The Escrow Account
functions as a blank check written by Enbridge on behalf of the policing
agencies in Northern Minnesota. There are few limitations on what can be
included in a reimbursement request. And in documents obtained
<https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21013869-minnesota-sheriffs-deputy-email-with-gun-retailer>
by The Intercept, one Aitkin Police Department Seargent expressed hope that
“the pipeline will give us an extra boost to next year’s budget, which
should make it easy for me to propose an upgrade/trade to your rifles
rather than a rebuild of our 8 Bushmasters.”

Shanai Matteson <https://shanai.work/>, a Cultural & Campaign Organizer at
Honor the Earth and lifelong resident of Palisade, Minnesota, was heavily
involved in the resistance against Line 3. In one incident, Shanai was
charged for, in her words, “conspiring, aiding and abetting trespass on
critical public infrastructure” for making “a speech at a rally where I
live, also known as the Welcome Water Protectors Camp.” On the 30th
Anniversary of the Enbridge Oil Spill in Itasca County, Shanai was charged
after officers “kettled and arrested dozens of people taking part in a
memory march.” When asked about the relationship between the State of
Minnesota and Enbridge, Shanai indicated, “What happened here in Northern
Minnesota sets a dangerous precedent…with local law enforcement paid to
police the property and profits of a private company.”

According to a Permit Compliance Filing
<https://www.edockets.state.mn.us/EFiling/edockets/searchDocuments.do?method=showPoup&documentId=%7bD0B3F571-0000-C812-B5A2-801966939FE1%7d&documentTitle=20205-163046-01>
with the MPUC, “$250,000 was deposited on May 8, 2020” into the Escrow
Account. But, in total, Enbridge paid $2,171,008.84
<https://files.dnr.state.mn.us/features/line3/mndnr-orders-enbridge-energy-to-pay.pdf>
to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and millions more to
police departments across Northern Minnesota. Winona LaDuke, Executive
Director of Honor the Earth, said she “was charged by a DNR officer
first…so the guys charged with protecting us are the guys arresting us.” On
June 15, 2021, Enbridge pierced an aquifer near its Clearbrook Terminal
worksite. According to the DNR, as of September 5, 2021, 24.2 million
gallons of groundwater had been spilled. As a penalty, the DNR ordered
Enbridge to pay 3.32 million dollars
<https://files.dnr.state.mn.us/features/line3/mndnr-orders-enbridge-energy-to-pay.pdf>.
And yet, on September 10, 2021, Enbridge pierced another aquifer
<https://www.fdlrez.com/downloads/PR/AquiferStatementPR_20220321.pdf> near
the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Reservation, spilling 220
million gallons of groundwater.

The Department of Natural Resources and the State of Minnesota did nothing
to stop Enbridge’s criminal misconduct in Northern Minnesota. But that
shouldn’t be a surprise. Enbridge bought off the police and was willing to
accept whatever fine the DNR might levy, as long as it meant Line 3 was in
the ground. Yet, at the same time, viewing Enbridge’s relationship with the
Northern Lights Taskforce, the State of Minnesota, and the Department of
Natural Resources through this lens of corruption or malfeasance doesn’t do
justice to the nature or extent of the relationship. It is no mistake that
the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Reservation had 220 million
gallons of water spilled into its Dead Fish Lake, threatening its wild rice
harvest. Nor was it a mistake that Winona LaDuke, the ‘guardian ad litem
for the Shell River’
<https://www.stopline3.org/events/040422-droptthecharges#:~:text=The%20executive%20director%20of%20Honor,fluids%2C%20and%20tar%20sands%20pipeline.>
appointed by the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, was arrested protecting the
very river she swore to protect.

The Public Utilities Commission’s permit for Line 3 includes provision
6.11, titled Tribal Economic Opportunity and Labor Education Plan, which
states, “The Plan must include…a discussion of how Minnesota-based tribal
members and businesses will be given preference under the committed
target.” Additionally, it demands that “The Plan…include: a discussion of a
Regional Native American Training Program with the purpose of recruiting
and training Native Americans in the region.” Enbridge employed 12,155
workers <https://mn350.org/line-3-facts/> during its Line 3 Replacement
Project, 295 of which identified as Native Americans and residents of
Minnesota.

Even the Public Utilities Commission, despite serving as Enbridge’s puppet,
recognized the plight of Native communities in Northern Minnesota.

Due to the legacy of displacement, assimilation, and extermination,
Anishinaabe communities in Northern Minnesota have the highest poverty rates
<https://data.web.health.state.mn.us/web/mndata/poverty_basic> in the
State. I.e., the 36.8% poverty rate on the Red Lake Reservation or the
37.9% poverty rate on the Leech Lake Reservation. If it could have a
consciousness, Enbridge would not devote it to Minnesota, and certainly not
the Anishinaabe. To Enbridge, the Anishinaabe are a resource and, at times,
a nuisance. They are ‘people of the past’ and people to control. The MPUC
urges Enbridge to “train” the Anishinaabe. But, here, “train” does not mean
support or teach; instead, it means ‘to control.’ For Enbridge, it would be
financially expedient to exterminate the last and only obstacle standing in
the way of Line 3—the Anishinaabe who have stewarded the land for
generations.

And while the Public Utilities Commission forbade “counterinsurgency
tactics or misinformation campaigns” in Provision 5.5 titled Public Safety
and Security, Enbridge didn’t listen. Documents obtained
<https://theintercept.com/2022/01/23/enbridge-pipeline-line-3-tracking-indigenous-protesters/>
by the Intercept indicate that Enbridge launched an initiative titled
“Opposition Driven Operational Threats,” which systematically documented
and categorized Native individuals, tribes, and organizations into
color-coded arrangements indicating whether or not they were a threat. In
2021, Enbridge event went so far as to purchase land near the headquarters
of Honor the Earth (which they later sold after completing Line 3). While
the relationship between Enbridge and the Northern Lights Task Force is
well documented, Enbridge’s internally discussed strategy in directing the
police against water protectors is less well known. Like a ‘black box,’ we
know the result—nearly 900 arrests <https://www.dropline3charges.com/>—but
don’t know all of what went into Enbridge’s strategy.

While the battle against Line 3 is over, that does not mean that Honor the
Earth or, for that matter, any other individual or organization involved in
the fight against Line 3 has given up. Hundreds of water protectors are
still facing charges, many of them, in StopLine3’s words, “with trumped-up
felonies, with most of the felonies being bogus “theft” charges,” and a new
campaign, “Drop the Charges,” has been launched to support those facing
jail time upon conviction. But Enbridge hasn’t given up either. The fight
against Line 5 <https://www.oilandwaterdontmix.org/> is heating up in
Michigan as Enbridge attempts to build a tunnel underneath the Straits of
Mackinaw despite the opposition of the State of Michigan and the Bad River
Tribe <https://www.badriver-nsn.gov/>. When asked about the battle against
Line 5 and why, despite the massive influence of a corporation like
Enbridge, it’s still work fighting, Paul DeMain, Board Chair of Honor the
Earth and Tribal Member of the Bad River Tribe, had this to say: “You know
why? Because Enbridge fears the truth. And that’s what we’re fighting up
against.”

*Theia Chatelle is an FGLI student at Yale University, studying English.
She currently works at A Public Space.*
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