Document provides new evidence of Line 3 workers assaulting women and girls

MMIW rally today (Saturday) to put heat on Gov. Walz

A Thief River Falls non-profit providing emergency services to victims of domestic and sexual violence says its seen an increase in demand for help since construction began on the Enbridge Line 3 tar sands pipeline.

A document submitted to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) from the Violence Intervention Project (VIP) says local women and girls are getting verbally harassed by Line 3 workers, too.

This news comes on top of the recent report of a human trafficking sting in Northern Minnesota which resulted in the arrest of two Line 3 workers. One of those men was charged with soliciting sex with a minor.

Indigenous people warned state regulators that Line 3 would bring increased sex and drug trafficking to the area — and add to the existing epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives. State regulators and labor unions didn’t seem to take their concern very seriously at the time the permits were issued.

Indigenous people and allies are gathering Saturday, noon – 2 p.m. at the Governor’s residence, 1006 Summit Ave, St. Paul, to demand that Gov. Tim Walz revoke the Line 3 permits to protect Indigenous communities. Facebook Event Page here.

Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office seeks nearly $200,000 reimbursement for its Line 3-related work

Expenses include everything from ballistic helmets, gas masks and batons to staff mobile field force training

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission’s (PUC’s) Line 3 Route Permit required the company to establish a “Public Safety Escrow Account” to reimburse state and local law enforcement for additional public safety costs they incurred around Line 3’s construction.

The proposed Line 3 route crosses more than a dozen counties. The Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office is the first law enforcement agency to submit reimbursement requests. More are sure to follow.

Healing Minnesota Stories obtained copies of multiple invoices submitted by the Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office to the PUC; they total $189,000. Reimbursement requests fall in three main buckets: equipment purchases, staff training, and responses to Line 3 water protectors.