The Line 3 pipeline is a pipeline being built through the Indigenous lands of the Anishinaabe from Alberta all the way to Wisconsin. The pipeline will pass through hundreds of untouched wetlands, bodies of water and wild rice beds, as well as the Mississippi River, one of the largest sources of freshwater in the United States. Line 3 will be transporting tar sands, which are “one of the most destructive, carbon-intensive and toxic fuels on the planet” posing a huge risk to the land and people near the pipeline.
Those on the frontlines protesting to protect the sacred land the pipeline will pass through need our help, so please read to find out more about Line 3, Enbridge and what you can do to help!
Proposal in 2014
Although Justin Trudeau pledged to bring clean drinking water to all Reservations in Canada by 2020, it was him and his Liberal cabinet who approved the TransMountain Line 3 pipeline. He said that the pipeline would be the better option and would be “less dangerous for communities”, to many it seems more like a money grab…
Transporting tar sands through a pipeline which is bound to have a spill at some point (like all pipelines have) will be catastrophic and detrimental to our freshwater sources as well as to the Anishinaabe people, whose land is currently being illegally invaded once again by colonizers. Justin Trudeau does not care about the land on which the pipeline he signed off on is invading upon, or the environmental and social consequences of this pipeline.
“Replacement Pipeline”
The Line 3 pipeline was meant to be a replacement for a pipeline that has already been built, but rather they are abandoning the original pipeline and creating a much bigger one to transport even more tar sands, meaning a larger oil spill. Line 3 very clearly violates the treaty rights of the Anishinaabe people.
The old Line 3 pipeline is said to have around 900 anomalies (leaks, cracks, other forms of damage, etc.) and the abandonment of this pipeline will most likely result in the corrosion of the existing contamination, causing drastic effects on the environment. Not to mention, the pipeline was built with defective steel, meaning it was never meant to last in the first place. Enbridge plans to leave the pipeline in the ground, without any budget or plans to clean up the mess it will create over the years. Government officials in both Canada and the United States have yet to take responsibility on whose job it will be to clean up possible corrosion and spills from the old pipeline.
Enbridge in Hot Water
Enbridge as a company who clearly cares only about profit and not about the land and people which their business affects. In May of 2020 their total operating revenue was $12.2 million, yet their pipelines have caused numerous spills and leaks over the past 20 years, including 61 documented incidents and more than 50 barrels of oil spilled. Since 2002, Enbridge and its joint subsidiaries have reported more than 300 hazardous liquids incidents, which is 66 059 barrels of oil spilled. I’m sure most people remember the spill in the Kalamazoo river in Minnesota in 2010, resulting in 20 000 barrels of oil spilled, Enbridge’s largest oil spill.
The Line 3 pipeline is the biggest project Enbridge has taken on to date, as well as one of the largest pipelines in the world , and the construction is nearly complete except for the Minnesota stretch. Indigenous water protectors have been at the frontlines, protesting this pipeline for 5 years now, according to stopline3.org.
While the tar sands industry dies off, Enbridge’s value decreases and more people become aware of the mistreatment of the Anishinaabe and Ojibwe peoples and their land, the end of the Line 3 pipeline becomes more possible, and here’s how you can help.
Enbridge has also allegedly funded the Minnesota police $500 000 to help them illegally arrest more water protectors and protesters… on Indigenous land. There have also been accounts of violence against Indigenous women by these police forces, as well as allegations of sex trafficking taking place by Minnesota police on Indigenous land near the Line 3 pipeline site.
How Can You Help?
If you live anywhere near the construction of the Line 3 pipeline, please look into getting to the frontlines to help protest, there is much help needed there right now. If you don’t live near the pipeline, I suggest checking out https://www.stopline3.org and reading the information provided there, as well as following their guides on how to help. The site includes a lot of very important information as well as resources for those who wish to help in any way they can.
Donate, educate and spread the information!
