An Executive Order that wasn’t, Capitol Rally to oppose Line 3 dewatering, Shell River Rally, and more

In this blog:

• The Executive Order that wasn’t
• White Earth pushes against Line 3 dewatering increases, Capitol rally Wednesday at 3 p.m.
• Women for the Rivers Rally at Shell River Thursday, noon-3 p.m., with V and Marisa Tomei
• Last push for Line 3 monitors; we need eyes on the Horizontal Directional Drilling sites

Enbridge moving pipeline equipment into place as start of construction looms

North end of what appears to be an Enbridge’s storage yard near Floodwood. (click on the image to enlarge.)

I’m a volunteer monitor for Watch the Line, a grassroots effort by people opposed to the Enbridge Line 3 crude oil pipeline. We are committed to preserving northern Minnesota’s clean waters and lands, including the Headwaters Region. We plan to closely monitor Line 3’s construction and report any suspected environmental violations.

Enbridge has notified landowners its intent to begin construction Monday, Nov. 30. During a monitoring trip today, I saw a lot of equipment that appeared to be staged for pipeline construction in a storage yard just south of Floodwood, near the proposed Line 3 route in St. Louis County.

(It’s informed speculation that it’s an Enbridge yard. I didn’t see any Enbridge signs. But it’s the only project in the area that would require this much equipment.)

The storage yard had a lot of stacked wood, which appears to be the matting needed to keep heavy equipment from sinking into the wetlands.

Central portion of the Floodwood storage yard: What appears to be wooden mats for supporting heavy equipment in wetlands. (Click on the image to enlarge.)

Wednesday, the Red Lake and White Earth Nations filed motions with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission seeking to stop construction until pending legal challenges are resolved. Undoubtedly, Enbridge will try to get as much Line 3 construction done as possible before the case gets heard.

Things will be happening fast.

The next Watch the Line monitor training will Sunday, Dec. 6 from 2-4 p.m. Register here.