Minneapolis Takes a Stand Against Enbridge Line 3 in a Unanimous Resolution

By Mark Smith First Posted: Jul 05, 2021 07:33 PM EDT

With a 13-0 vote, the Minneapolis City Council unanimously stands against the proposed Line 3 tar sands oil pipeline - joining the call for resistance from climate justice groups, Indigenous communities, and everyday citizens.

In the resolution passed by the City Council, it states that "the City of Minneapolis opposes construction of the Enbridge Energy Line 3 tar sands oil pipeline and calls on every elected leader with the authority to stop its construction to do so immediately."

According to City Council Member Jeremy Schroder, also one of the sponsors of the resolution, the Line 3 project shot down in Minneapolis would add almost 200 million tons of climate pollution per year - an amount more than what the entire state of Minnesota generates.

"Today's action by the Minneapolis City Council is more evidence of the mounting opposition to Line 3," says Brett Benson, Communications Director for local environmental nonprofit MN350, in a statement. "The pipeline is proving over and over again to be a bad deal for Minnesotans. It not only tramples on tribal sovereignty and will dump hundreds of millions of tons of climate pollution into the atmosphere but also is costing Minnesota taxpayers millions of dollars in bailouts to local governments. It's time to put an end to this fiasco."

Photo by KEREM YUCEL/AFP via Getty Images
Sections of the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline are seen by a "No Trespassing" sign at the construction site in Park Rapids, Minnesota on June 6, 2021. - Line 3 is an oil sands pipeline which runs from Hardisty, Alberta, Canada to Superior, Wisconsin in the United States. In 2014, a new route for the Line 3 pipeline was proposed to allow an increased volume of oil to be transported daily. While that project has been approved in Canada, Wisconsin, and North Dakota, it has sparked continued resistance from climate justice groups and Native American communities in Minnesota. While many people are concerned about potential oil spills along Line 3, some Native American communities in Minnesota have opposed the project on the basis of treaty rights and calling President Biden to revoke the permits and halt construction.

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A Protracted Battle

A post on the Stop Line 3 webpage explains that the Enbridge Line 3 is a proposed pipeline extension project set to transport almost a million barrels of tar sands each day, from Alberta in Canada to Superior, Wisconsin in the US. Proposed back in 2014 by Canadian pipeline company Enbridge, the new line will be passing through untouched wetlands, the treaty territory of the Anishinaabe peoples, through the Mississippi River, leading to the shores of Lake Superior.

Line 3 has been contested for decades now, with the old pipeline built back in the 1960s by the Lakehead Pipeline Company before it was succeeded by Enbridge. The Canadian energy company is now replacing the old lines and has been halfway through the wetlands and forests of northern Minnesota in a $2.6 billion pipeline project. It was stopped in December 2019 after the city of Minneapolis declared a climate emergency.

On the other hand, Enbridge explains on its website "Why Minnesota needs Line 3." Noting how the line has been an "essential component" of the company's pipeline transport network, the replacement of Line 3 will ensure the supply of crude oil needed by refineries supplying Minnesota, its neighboring states, as well as Eastern Canada and the Gulf Coast. It also explains the benefits of the project: including jobs, economic effects, and long-term benefits to the state.

The Problem with Oil Pipelines

On March 3, 1991, the old Line 3 pipeline, then owned by Lakehead Pipeline, ruptured in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. It resulted in a massive inland oil spill of about 1.7 million gallons of crude oil flowing onto the then-frozen Prairie River. Thankfully, the tributary was frozen, preventing the oil spill from reaching the main Mississippi River 2 miles away.

Almost two decades later in 2010, a pipeline operated by Enbridge, Line 6B, also ruptured and poured crude oil into Talmadge Creek, which was a tributary of the Kalamazoo River. The cleanup of this oil spill took five years and over a billion dollars.

The 1991 event was the largest inland oil spill in US history, with the 2010 spill also noted as among the largest inland spills ever recorded.

Protesters say that these events clearly mark the risks of building oil pipelines to the Minnesota waters while Enbridge argues that the old Line 3 must be replaced, assuring people that technology and safety has improved since then.