The indigenous-led Ginew collective is leading an action this Thursday near Carlton, MN to draw attention to Enbridge’s illegal pipe storage yards that the company has been building to prepare for constructing the Line 3 pipeline. See Facebook Page here.
MN350 is is organizing a bus for those in the Twin Cities who cannot or don’t want to drive (see link here). Departure and return point is the parking lot of the Lake Street Target (2500 E Lake St, Minneapolis). Show up at 7:45 a.m. Thursday, bus leaves at 8 a.m. Bus will return to Minneapolis around 5 p.m. the same day.
Rides are on a pay-as-you-can basis. The actual cost to MN350 is $60 per person.
This action will remain on public roads and will not involve arrestable direct action.
According to the event’s Facebook Post:
Enbridge sneakily steamrolling this pipeline through is an act of violence towards indigenous and local communities that have to live with these pipes in our front yards, knowing the threat it poses to our freshwater lakes, wetlands, wild rice beds, climate, and our way of life.
We demand an immediate halt to all construction activities, including preconstruction. It is unacceptable that Enbridge is currently stockpiling pipe, clearing trees, and more — while Line 3’s permits are under legal challenge and there is still not a finished tribal cultural survey. Stop the construction activities now.
The Stop Line 3 website has additional information on the “illegal and invalid” pipe yard permits.
The permits are invalid because the MPCA’s Construction Stormwater General Permit, under which these pipe yards were authorized, requires all environmental review for the project to be completed before issuance. Also, the Minnesota Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) prohibits the issuance of any permits for new projects before the state’s environmental review is complete and deemed adequate.
These permits, requested in 2014 and 2015, were issued before the project’s environmental reviews were complete.
See also the Nov. 19, 2017 Star Tribune article: Pipeline opponents claim Enbridge skirted permit rules for storage yard.
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