'Water is sacred': An on-scene report from the encampment where Indigenous people are trying to stop construction of Enbridge's tar sands pipeline.
By that point, however, one other impediment to the pipeline had arisen: Biden's presidential victory. Local tribes and environmental groups filed an appeal with the new administration to rescind Enbridge's federal permits, since the Trump administration had granted those permits without conducting an environmental impact study on the project."We all thought Biden was going to come in and axe this project," said Kier at the Shell River camp.
On August 9, the MPCA responded, confirming that it had recorded 28 frac-outs totaling at least 10,000 gallons of released drilling fluids, about half of which occurred on wetlands. Tripett says there's further evidence that Enbridge doesn't know the landscape as well as it should: The company drastically underestimated the amount of water it would need to remove from wetlands to lay pipes.
Water protectors say state agencies' responses to the frac-outs and dewatering efforts suggest Enbridge has a cozy relationship with those charged with regulating the company, and they worry about what will happen if the pipeline is completed and there is an oil spill. In addition to spills, there is also the environmental impact of the oil that will be running through Line 3. Enbridge has repeatedly argued that pipelines don't lead to carbon emissions, and that the oil it is designed to transport will reach the market, whether the new Line 3 is built or not."Forcing the transport of essential energy off of pipelines only moves it to more carbon-intense alternatives—via ship, truck, and most notably rail," said Kellner, the Enbridge spokesperson.
Just down the road is her hemp farm, powered only by humans and horses—the manifestation of LaDuke's belief that"fossil fuel addiction," as she calls it, isn't the only way to live. The problem, said LaDuke, is that Enbridge appears to have local law enforcement in its pocket—and she isn't the only one who believes this. After they discovered the Willow River frac-out, Matteson and other water protectors left to gather equipment to collect water samples. On their way back, Matteson says they were stopped three times by law enforcement.
While the monitors report to state agencies, they are there acting in lieu of agency officials, meaning that construction is largely supervised by people who were selected and paid by Enbridge. At the beginning, only a half-dozen water protectors had accompanied Morales. But as the 256-mile walk gained attention and crept closer to the Twin Cities, more people had joined. Now, looking out over the packed crowd, Morales teared up as he thanked those who had been with him since day one.
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