<div dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail-top-anchor"></div>
<div id="gmail-toolbar" class="gmail-toolbar-container">
</div><div class="gmail-container" dir="ltr" lang="en-US">
<div class="gmail-header gmail-reader-header gmail-reader-show-element">
<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/07/08/the-story-of-line-3/">counterpunch.org</a>
<div class="gmail-domain-border"></div>
<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">The Story of Line 3</h1>
<span class="gmail-post_author_intro">by</span> <span class="gmail-post_author"><a href="https://www.counterpunch.org/author/theia-chatelle/" rel="nofollow">Theia Chatelle</a></span>- July 8, 2022<br></div>
<hr>
<div class="gmail-content">
<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><div>
<div id="gmail-attachment_247666" class="gmail-wp-caption"><p><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-247666" src="https://www.counterpunch.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/rodion-kutsaev-xNdPWGJ6UCQ-unsplash-680x453.jpg" alt="" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 0px;" width="457" height="304"></p><p id="gmail-caption-attachment-247666" class="gmail-wp-caption-text"><font size="1">Image by Rodion Kutsaev.</font></p></div>
<p>When <a href="https://www.enbridge.com/">Enbridge Inc.</a> announced
on September 29, 2021, its “Line 3 Replacement Project [was]
Substantially Completed and Set to be Fully Operational,” Winona LaDuke,
Executive Director of <a href="https://www.honorearth.net/">Honor the Earth</a>, issued a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJpSAmbwuL4">video response</a>
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. <a href="https://www.stopline3.org/">Stop Line 3</a> and give us a ‘just transition.'”</p>
<p>Line 3 is a project of Enbridge Inc., a multinational corporation headquartered in Alberta, Canada. Enbridge <a href="https://www.enbridge.com/media-center/enbridge-quick-facts">transports</a> 30% of all oil produced in North America and <a href="https://www.enbridge.com/media-center/enbridge-quick-facts">operates</a>
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 <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/what-are-tar-sands">Union of Concerned Scientists</a>
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, <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/sites/www.sierraclub.org/files/sce/north-star-chapter/pdf/Line3FactSheet.pdf">about half the amount</a>. Enbridge Inc. announced its Line 3 Replacement Project on October 24, 2014, by filing a Notice Plan with the <a href="https://mn.gov/puc/">Minnesota Public Utilities Commission</a>
(MPUC). In Enbridge’s words, the Line 3 Replacement Project will
“maintain … high safety standards…and restore the historical operating
capabilities of Line 3.”</p>
<p>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 ‘<a href="https://ojibwe.lib.umn.edu/main-entry/manoomin-ni">manoomin</a>,’ and Turtle Island again being attacked by the “<a href="https://maptheblacksnake.com/#:~:text=Line%203%20cuts%20through%20the,but%20the%20entire%20Mississippi%20River.">Black Snake.</a>”
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 <a href="https://www.facebook.com/NLTFMN/">Northern Lights Taskforce</a>, “<a href="https://www.enbridge.com/media-center/media-statements/line-3-replacement-creates-378-million-in-tribal-economic-opportunities-in-minnesota">brought jobs to Minnesota</a>,”
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.</p>
<p>Andy Pearson, Midwest Tar Sands Coordinator at <a href="https://mn350.org/">MN350</a>,
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 <a href="https://www.facebook.com/giniwcollective/">Giniw Collective</a>, the <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/">Sierra Club</a>,
and many others, Enbridge was able to use the police, the legislature,
and the PUC to neutralize the Anishinaabe people and affiliated water
protectors.</p>
<p>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:</p>
<blockquote><p>“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.”</p></blockquote>
<p>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 <a href="https://www.ci.aitkin.mn.us/index.asp?SEC=9A352E58-C1EB-49DD-A6AA-A5ACD5738EF1">Aitkin Police Department</a> and <a href="https://www.co.aitkin.mn.us/departments/public-safety/public-safety.html">Palisade Police Department</a>,
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 <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21013869-minnesota-sheriffs-deputy-email-with-gun-retailer">documents obtained</a>
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.”</p>
<p><a href="https://shanai.work/">Shanai Matteson</a>, 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.”</p>
<p>According to a <a href="https://www.edockets.state.mn.us/EFiling/edockets/searchDocuments.do?method=showPoup&documentId=%7bD0B3F571-0000-C812-B5A2-801966939FE1%7d&documentTitle=20205-163046-01">Permit Compliance Filing</a> with the MPUC, “$250,000 was deposited on May 8, 2020” into the Escrow Account. But, in total, Enbridge<a href="https://files.dnr.state.mn.us/features/line3/mndnr-orders-enbridge-energy-to-pay.pdf"> paid $2,171,008.84</a>
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 <a href="https://files.dnr.state.mn.us/features/line3/mndnr-orders-enbridge-energy-to-pay.pdf">to pay 3.32 million dollars</a>. And yet, on September 10, 2021, Enbridge <a href="https://www.fdlrez.com/downloads/PR/AquiferStatementPR_20220321.pdf">pierced another aquifer</a> near the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Reservation, spilling 220 million gallons of groundwater.</p>
<p>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 ‘<a href="https://www.stopline3.org/events/040422-droptthecharges#:~:text=The%20executive%20director%20of%20Honor,fluids%2C%20and%20tar%20sands%20pipeline.">guardian ad litem for the Shell River’</a> appointed by the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, was arrested protecting the very river she swore to protect.</p>
<p>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 <a href="https://mn350.org/line-3-facts/">12,155 workers</a> during its Line 3 Replacement Project, 295 of which identified as Native Americans and residents of Minnesota.</p>
<p>Even the Public Utilities Commission, despite serving as Enbridge’s
puppet, recognized the plight of Native communities in Northern
Minnesota.</p>
<p>Due to the legacy of displacement, assimilation, and extermination, Anishinaabe communities in Northern Minnesota have the <a href="https://data.web.health.state.mn.us/web/mndata/poverty_basic">highest poverty rates</a>
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.</p>
<p>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 <a href="https://theintercept.com/2022/01/23/enbridge-pipeline-line-3-tracking-indigenous-protesters/">obtained</a>
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—<a href="https://www.dropline3charges.com/">nearly 900 arrests</a>—but don’t know all of what went into Enbridge’s strategy.</p>
<p>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<a href="https://www.oilandwaterdontmix.org/"> Line 5</a>
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 <a href="https://www.badriver-nsn.gov/">Bad River Tribe</a>.
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.”</p>
</div><p>
<em>Theia Chatelle is an FGLI student at Yale University, studying English. She currently works at A Public Space.</em>
</p></div></div>
</div>
<div>
</div>
<div></div>
</div>
</div>