This is a blog post about the letter I wrote last week to 55th Chief of Engineers, Lieutenant General Spellmon, of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers regarding my concerns on Enbridge’s Line 3/93, especially here in Clearwater County. I meet with the County Commissioners tomorrow to review these concerns and discuss response readiness.
Boozhoo, Lieutenant General Spellmon,
I’m a retired Metallurgical Engineer writing from 1855 Treaty Territory regarding growing concerns for the current Enbridge worksite at Walker Brook in Clearwater County, Minnesota. These concerns were only heightened by the December 7 Keystone pipeline rupture at Mill Creek, a geography so similar to ours with a creek adjacent to an uphill pipeline corridor. We appreciate the work you are doing there in response to the latest Keystone pipeline failure. We are hopeful to prevent a need for similar response at our location, which geologically is far more water-filled and unstable than that of the Kansas plains.
We’ve been watching Walker Brook valley with concern since early August when we noticed Enbridge’s timber matting access road had been reinstalled west of Clearwater County 110. In late August, my partner discovered an open hole above the pipeline corridor and we began watching this place even more closely. [47-degrees, 47-minutes, 63-seconds, and -95-degrees, 28-minutes, 35-seconds.]
This photo shows upwelling as indicated by surface ripples. Since then, we’ve taken several hikes in to monitor and test at this location, concerned about impacts to the land and water quality.
Located within a 399-acre section of state tax land and County Memorial Forest, this crossing of Enbridge’s Line 3/93 pipeline at Walker Brook is in a precarious valley of deep glacial till and forested peatbog very similar to LaSalle Valley, where Enbridge is also currently struggling to remediate multiple upwelling water locations. These two valleys are like mirror images of each other on either side of the Mississippi River Line 3/93 crossing, where Enbridge experienced multiple frac-outs into the large wetlands of Mississippi River headwaters. This is clearly a fragile geology, full of water, which opponents to the Line 3 project testified was too much of a risk for a Tar Sands pipeline project.
We see now, that heeding citizen warnings would have been prudent. The applicant’s route was a bad idea that was not given enough geotechnical or hydrological study to assure prevention of avoidable tragedies. We remain disappointed that the USACE refused to perform an EIS as that work may have saved us these troubles. A year after Enbridge began flowing tar sands crude through their pipeline, we still await resolution of upwards of 4 dozen sites of deep groundwater upwellings, many of which, based on Enbridge’s lack of transparent communication regarding their environmental failures both during construction and since formal construction ended, we believe the state remains ignorant.
As a retired Metallurgical Engineer, my concerns include those regarding the pipeline integrity in Walker Brook Valley. If the pipeline is floating in a veneer of peat and/or being fatigued by the fluctuating water levels, the stresses could exceed designed metallurgical limits. I am concerned the Canadian Corporation, as evidenced in this video, has found this installation to be more problematic than expected. We know that Enbridge has struggled to complete their work at this crossing for over a year, yet there has been no release of information on this site to the public, save that done by Waadookawaad Amikwag in their announcements and webinars. Nor does it appear the DNR or MPCA are communicating with Clearwater County Commissioners or the County Land Commissioner on this concern. As this is Clearwater County Memorial Forest, public land with multiple deer stands as hunting remains open this weekend, we still have no notice of this danger to the public from the state or federal agencies. We are concerned that Enbridge alone knows of the risks here and that state and federal agencies may remain uninformed.
You received memos from Minnesota US Representative Betty McCollum, on 10/14/22, and Representative Ilhan Omar more recently, regarding the concerns of Waadookawaad Amikwag, a citizen scientist group seeking your assistance for federal investigation of this situation. As USEPA recently replied to Representative McCollum’s memo, we look forward to receiving your response soon as well. We are hopeful for a robust response to our specific concerns of deep underground upwelling water flows.
I write today with evidence of recent dirt piles adjacent to the Enbridge Line 3/93 corridor; another possible indication this project in the valley may involve pipeline integrity concerns.
In addition, we hold concerns for the excessive water removal from the valley as Walker Brook feeds The Red River of the North. Water being pumped up the hillside and over the Laurentian Divide now overwhelms the Enbridge dewatering station and flows across County 110 north of the project site, as indicated in the photo below. These ponds and brook that result are situated in the Mississippi River watershed and the excess water appears bound for Daniel Lake in the Clearwater State Wildlife Management Area. How will these millions of gallons of water being moved from one watershed to another impact both watersheds and the wildlife and people who rely on them?
Finally, we are concerned to know if this location has been reported to PHMSA and if their representatives might be of assistance to watch closely over this worksite of concern. And we urge your Engineers to ask Waadookawaad Amikwag for assistance as they are watching closely and have data and evidence on the nature of this concern that might be helpful in resolution.
We look forward to watching state and federal agencies build relationships of trust with the public monitors to ensure full enforcement of the Clean Water Act in Clearwater County and across Minnesota.
Thank you for your consideration. Miigwech Bizindaawiyeg.
Sincerely, Jami Gaither Alida, MN 218-657-2321
cc: Michael S. Regan, USEPA Alan K. Mayberry, PHMSA Timothy Gaither, PHMSA U.S. Congresswoman Betty McCollum, Minnesota 4th District U.S. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, Minnesota 5th District Anna Hotz, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Randall Doneen, Minnesota DNR Waadookawaad Amikwag Sheriff Darin Halverson, Clearwater County Sheriff’s Office Andy Anderson, Clearwater County CCSO EMS Bruce Cox, Clearwater County Land Commissioner
Got word from the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission Secretary Seuffert Friday that it was posted to the Docket!!
A while back, my friend Nookomis Deb Topping, Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of R.I.S.E. Coalition, invited me to take a road trip to Mackinac to testify against the Proposed Line 5 Tunnel Project in the Straits of Mackinac. [Another Dumb Enbridge Idea…] Here’s what we told the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) on what Enbridge promises… vs. what they will deliver.
From the top (clockwise): Apparent frac-out bleeding from the headlands wetland into Mississippi River; Samples pulled from Mississippi River wetlands in locations of corridor (orange) and frac-out (black); Enbridge “Springs” where upwelling water erupts from the land in the location of the pipeline; Large, yet unremedied, deep water breach at MP1102.5 (400′ from the Nagaajiwanaang Fond du Lac Reservation boundary); Gray jelly-like eruptions from the land where Enbridge reported they’d fixed their breach (November, 2021) in LaSalle Valley yet evidence shows multiple eruptions still bleeding from the land (on 8-4-22 Minnesota Department of Natural Resources confirmed Enbridge’s 7-11-22 report that they were mistaken in their assessment of LaSalle issues being remedied).
The people in Michigan were very interested to see the Enbridge post-construction landscape in hopes it might open the eyes of the USACE to help them say, “No,” to Enbridge’s next dumb idea. Anyone can see these are grave concerns – and this one, as yet unreported to the public – indicates when Enbridge asks, we must say, “NEVER AGAIN!!”
SINKHOLE at Enbridge’s pipeline corridor in Walker Brook Valley (credit: Dan Gaither)
That Was Then… This is Now.
This past week, Waadookawaad Amikwag revealed twosites of upwelling water concerns, of dozens we’ve uncovered, along Enbridge’s Line 3/93 corridor. These ongoing concerns mean continued infiltration of our wetlands and bogs, doing unknown levels of harm.
We saw 198 members of the public engaged to hear our Presentation of Findings and 100 attended the Q&A discussion with the public later that evening. Eighty of them stayed for an extra twenty minutes of Q&A after the Action at the top of the hour! They were very interested in our work and so many questions remain unanswered.
We hope to get fact sheets and more updates out to the public soon. Keep up to date by subscribing to the Waadookawaad Amikwag YouTube channel. And Waadookawaad Amikwag has a website pending release.
Now, as winter closes in, we see more and more Enbridge presence at Walker Brook. Why do they need to have lights on at night? What are the risks? What is the state allowing them to do now? Without our knowledge. More importantly, without Tribal Consultation.
Walker Brook damages are even visible on Google Maps now from photos taken earlier this year. You can see here the entire valley full of destruction. Closer in, the degraded hillside is evident. Closer still, you can even see the sinkhole that’s opened in the ground above the Enbridge tar sands pipeline.
Of course, it’s worse today. Enbridge has 24/7 monitoring now. Only God and the MPCA know what they’re doing to the land and water now.
Walker Brook Access Road – Enbridge Work Site Remediating Construction Damages 13 months after they began pumping oil through their Line 3/93 tar sands pipeline. [Taken 11/18/22 18:48 hours from Clearwater County 110 looking west.]
Enbridge has two major Line 5 pipeline project proposals in Wisconsin and Michigan.
Minnesota’s experience with Enbridge’s Line 3 project is a story that tells them BOTH to say… “No!”
You can learn more about these post-construction damages at a November 16th webinar that Sierra Club North Star Chapter is hosting as a partner with Waadookawaad Amikwag. Here is the Facebook event and the website RSVP pages for the noontime presentation and the evening discussion!
Read below for more details on Minnesota’s horrific aftermath with Enbridge pipeline construction.
It never was the leaking pipeline that was gonna get us… it was the damages their construction brings to the water.
Lies during Permitting
For the full story, we’d have to do far too much weedy Application and Environmental Impact Statement review:
We might review the data gathered and presented by Enbridge ahead of construction, apparently NOT thorough enough to understand the unstable and water-filled geological landscape where they proposed their pipeline construction. The more we investigate here, the more clearly it shows how little the state agencies investigated as they evaluated permit applications? As we citizens review topo maps now, we see even more clearly what walking the land told us from the beginning: THIS IS A HORRIBLE place this for a tar sands pipeline.
We might re-read the testimony of experts, like Paul Stolen, testifying for Friends of the Headwaters, who advised AGAINST permitting a tar sands pipeline through this inconsistent glacial till, advising frac-outs could be frequent regardless of Enbridge’s promises about their “safer” Horizontal Directional Drilling process.
We might also consider Paul’s further testimony about LaSalle Valley, seeking a re-route around this sensitive area:
Not enough evidence for those in DNR and PCA reviewing and deciding upon the permits it seems… or perhaps they missed Paul’s prescient comments? We watched as the PUC seemingly ignored 68K comments in opposition of this project while only a few thousand (mostly via signed pre-printed postcards from Enbridge) voiced support.
Unfortunately, testimony from experts like Paul Stolen and similar citizen comments were ignored as Minnesota’s regulatory bodies permitted the project anyway.
Then Enbridge ran rampant over the land, RUSHING through their construction, which may well be the source for these MANY long-term water impacts and ongoing environmental remediation sites – STILL INCOMPLETE – a year after Enbridge began flowing tar sands through their pipeline.
Enbridge acted criminally, ignoring their construction permits and not reporting the damages from this willful violation. A hard lesson learned by Minnesotans in Enbridge’s company town of Clearbrook.
Lies During Construction
The First Discovered Breach: COVERED UP BY ENBRIDGE FOR MONTHS!
Discovered is the proper word to use here as Enbridge knew of the unrelenting groundwater surging from the earth when they were working to install their new tar sands pipeline – Line 3, now 93 – at their terminal in Clearbrook.
On or about January 21st, they discovered that their steel pilings [at a depth of 28′, on a low-risk construction permit allowing only 8-10 feet of trenching] had ruptured an artesian aquifer. Enbridge, while reporting water flow in their weekly reports to DNR, made no attempt to be clear about the situation, which was only discovered inadvertently during a mid-June lunchtime conversation between DNR and an Independent Environmental Monitor, which was explained during a DNR Office Hours session last year.
Note: This was mere days after the DNR issued a 10-fold increase in Enbridge’s Water Appropriation Permit – to Five Billion Gallons …which seems to have gotten NO REVIEW after discovery of this water surging from the land at Enbridge’s construction site? And when you know the inside baseball of communications between the state and tribal officials, you see the truly egregious nature of the timing of this approval. Perhaps a chat for another day as it’s not my story to tell.
Was a 10-fold increase… justified?
I continue to wonder how on earth the DNR could not see this OBVIOUS FAILURE by the Applicant to assess needs for construction. This request clearly deserved closer evaluation, especially for such a significant increase, DURING A DROUGHT YEAR, no less! How could Enbridge – pipeline construction experts one would assume – have such a POOR UNDERSTANDING of their needs for Water Appropriation? And, yes, Tribal consultation should have been a part of assessing this permitting change.
One might note that these “independent” monitors appear a perfunctory indicator of Enbridge’s adherence to unbiased practices – yet were they merely more window dressing to the Canadian corporation’s piss-poor plan for caring for our land? Almost half of these monitors were shown to be previous Enbridge contract employees!! [Thanks, Healing Minnesota Stories!]
That’s what Enbridge and the State call Independent?
So first we learned during permitting that Enbridge would not come clean on the real dangers their construction entails, and then we found Enbridge wouldn’t ADHERE to their permits ANYWAY! One might question, in fact, why there are no details provided on how Enbridge violated their Low Risk Construction permit at Clearbrook in the settlement documentation. Hmmm?
What do Permits MEAN if they can simply be ignored by an Applicant… without penalty?
Many Minnesotans continue to be baffled as state agencies and regulators keep listening to Enbridge, even as we continue to discover more and more about their deception.
It’s clear to us that Enbridge cannot be trusted. It seems more evident than ever that they are likely ill-equipped to actually remediate the damages they’ve caused.
Lies Post-Construction
The “FIXED” Breaches: Enbridge says, “OOPS! Not Quite Fixed After All!”
Back in August, Waadookawaad Amikwag – Those Who Help Beaver – visited LaSalle Valley where a SECOND Enbridge breach had been reported almost a year earlier. It was reported “fixed” in late 2021. [I say “late 2021” because the date has been reported by Enbridge as November by Jennifer Bjorhus back in August: “Pipeline operator Enbridge Energy said on its website that the LaSalle breach was grouted and fixed last November.“, while the recent settlement with the State, reported (Item 24 under LaSalle Creek Site): “On December 20, 2021, Enbridge reported that implementation of the 2021 LaSalle Corrective Action Plan had stopped groundwater discharge at the site.“ Who knows when Enbridge is constantly changing the story to fit their needed narrative?]
Far from being fixed, the team discovered many ongoing upwellings. Enbridge calls them seeps, yet this is the equipment they are using to measure just ONE of these “seeps”. This site was initially reported as leaking just under 10M gallons. Yet with one seep location showing almost a million gallons each month, based on our observations of their Weir box in the field, that is surely adding up!! Is anyone actually counting all the gallons lost due to Enbridge’s negligence?
Weir box measuring Enbridge “seep” location at LaSalle Creek, 8-28-22
Note that Enbridge also reported their Clearbrook breach remedied just days before it’s one-year anniversary… yet in the recent settlement, that claim was also proven to be premature: “On September 1, 2022, Enbridge informed DNR that a small groundwater seep had emerged near the Clearbrook Site repair at an estimated rate of ½ gallons per minute.” Sooo…. Not Fixed. While initial reports spoke of 50M gallons, that later nearly doubled, and, if flow continues… who knows? Enbridge isn’t counting the gallons at this site it seems.
The settlement notes of the third reported Enbridge breach, this one at MP1102.5, just 400′ outside Fond du Lac Reservation, that it TOO is “fixed”! For now maybe? Waadookawaad Amikwag continues to ground-truth these Enbridge claims. 219 millions gallons of water were reported lost.
Continued Coverup by Enbridge… and the State
Waadookawaad Amikwag has document dozens of upwelling water sites along Enbridge’s corridor. We have tried talking with Minnesota Agency contacts to no avail. [Most won’t even respond to my emails anymore.] We offered to share data, if they were interested but they never asked (as was reported by Bjorhus above). Seems they are only interested in the Enbridge narrative.
The State STILL HAVEN’T ASKED for any of our data.
In fact, we’re still awaiting a response on a draft Memorandum of Agreement for this data use… sent over a month ago. Meanwhile, we see continued infiltration of Enbridge in our bogs and wetlands.
The settlement Enbridge has negotiated with state regulators is far too premature based on grounded evidence along the Line 3/93 corridor. There are dozens of sites of concern that need review. We’ve documented plainly and clearly, with water testing, photographs, thermal imaging and drone footage, at least two sites of breached groundwater upwelling that remain UNREPORTED to the public by State Agencies.
In response to Healing Minnesota Stories’ questions, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) said: “While the investigation is ongoing, we cannot provide details about the situation.”
The DNR continued: “However, we want to correct your suggestion that there is an aquifer breach at this site. Based on our work thus far, the Minnesota DNR has found no evidence of an aquifer breach. Instead, the Walker Brook location appears to have an upwelling of shallow groundwater resources that has complicated site restoration.”
The MPCA continued: “The MPCA is in regular communication with on-site independent environmental monitors to ensure the company adheres to permits that remain in place while the company works to restore the site.”
Just because the matter is under investigation shouldn’t preclude agencies from releasing basic information.”
Is MN DNR using Enbridge tactics to downplay the situation… “No evidence of an Aquifer breach!!” Does that mean they think this situation is not a problem?
You decide. Does this photo of the Valley at Walker Brook look like a problem to You?
Enbridge’s Line 3/93 second crossing of Walker Brook: An unreported site of groundwater upwelling, currently getting more complex and looking more dangerous each month, rather then being remediated.
We might also consider, as part of our review of this project and its outcomes, re-listening to the voices of our children, who protested… asking us adults for NO MORE FOSSIL FUEL INFRASTRUCTURE development, asking us to recognize how much we have already polluted their world and to heed their call to awaken to the increasingly scary dangers of climate change… Their everyday nightmare.
THE AG’s REPORTED SETTLEMENT WITH ENBRIDGE APPEARS perhaps PREMATURE?
Video shows the 10/5/22 examination of the landscape within Walker Brook Valley at Enbridge’s second crossing of the small stream, including evidence showing deep water upwelling from the ground. This is along the RA-05 portion of the corridor route in Clearwater County. It is now evident that deep underground water (at a constant 45°F) is being released to the surface and bled from the hillside down and into the forest to the south of the clear-cut corridor. A test well has been installed and extensive timber matting has been placed through the wetlands and into the valley. The large hole in the land, downhill (and thus downstream) from the well installation, now shows gray contamination buildup on the branches reaching in from the sides of the sinkhole. In addition, there is an oily sheen on the surface of the sinkhole now. While testing has not been completed to confirm this is a petroleum-based sheen, its surface behavior is indicative of this possibility. The water temperature coming into the sinkhole is colder than when it leaves, likely due to surface solar and air exposure of the cold, deep, underground water bleeding in from uphill and from below. The water within the hole is not cold like deeper groundwater so may be a superficial water body. Yet, the bottom undulates and a ski pole goes deep into the hole past the apparent bottom. Black piping diverts water, from both the timber matting area and the large sinkhole, to the southwest, ending at the forest’s edge and flowing on into Walker Brook below. This water all tests at about 45-50 degrees, indicating a deep water breach.
Video was made between 1500 and 1800 hours on 10/5/22.
Narrative – Jami Gaither for Waadookawaad Amikwag: Enbridge’s deep water upwelling at their Line 3 crossing of Walker Brook includes a massive timber matting addition. Today’s review discusses a near-platform identification of biological sheen, moves to the sinkhole, and then reviews downhill piping outlets where Enbridge is diverting water from its corridor breach to the nearby forest edge.
Before we go too far, as there is so much to catch in this video, here’s a bit more to help understanding.
Enbridge has an UNREPORTED-to-the-public breach of deep groundwater, on Minnesota public land.
This post-construction damage now requires a return to the wetlands of heavy equipment.
The new work-site appears to be polluting the water with oily sheen producing chemicals.
An unknown quantity of deep groundwater is bleeding from the land with Enbridge showing no apparent capability to stop the flow, even as we are now a full year post-construction.
The results and impacts of the Enbridge construction for their new Line 3 pipeline have created unsafe conditions and possibly resulted in a situation that cannot be repaired.
The impacts of these environmental failures on the underground infrastructure are unknown and could be creating forces on the pipeline that bring even more dangerous concerns.
Run-off from underground fills the valley consuming the brook into a pond at the valley floor at this location, not yet disclosed to the public by Minnesota agencies. Investigation of pooling near the platform brought concern of an oily sheen. A touch into the surface revealed a hole that remains open, indicating a biological sheen, not one with petroleum contamination. Water temps measured in the 40’s were indicative of a deep water upwelling.
Tubing sections from under the platform lead to this 4’ x 6’ sinkhole that continuously burps up air and water. Following installation of a test well, we see evidence of residue coating surfaces of roots and the sides of the hole. The 10/5/22 photo compares poorly with the clarity of this area captured on 8/25/22. The surface now has a sheen as well, which, upon disturbance, shows the film closing back in on itself, indicating a petroleum-based contamination. It seems Enbridge’s attempts at remediation are creating more pollution impacts than resolution of their deep water upwelling. As this land is public-access, it creates public safety concerns. We can also see in this area how the temperature changes from the inlet – which appears to be capturing uphill run-off – to the sinkhole itself; a gain of 7-8°F in a short distance.
As we move to the outlet piping running into the edge of the forest at the edge of Enbridge’s Line 3 project clearcut, we find more cold water in the 40’s rushing quickly into the land. It is clear that there is a large amount of water being bled from underground in this location, having an unknown impact on the stability of the land around this pipeline installation, as evidenced most strongly by the sinkhole in the corridor very near the pipeline itself.
The only times the powerful bring change are when it suits their aims… or when enough of us speak up to force them to bring needed change.
Mary Engelbreit calendar page on Margaret Mead’s encouragement
These last few weeks, Waadookawaad Amikwag has been working hard to speak up and be heard. Here’s a summary of the last couple months of our work:
Two months ago, we reported on the second Enbridge Breachiversary – the one year point of unrelenting flow from Enbridge’s deep water breach in LaSalle Valley. In case you missed it, here was reporting on the first Enbridge breach of an artesian aquifer at Clearbrook, endangering local nearby calcareous fens. And, still leaking, never reported remedied, is the MP1102.5 aquifer breach 400′ west of the Nagaajiwanaang (Fond du Lac Reservation) boundary. The latest Fond du Lac Band report on the concern noted flow reduced to six gallons a minute. Enbridge calls that flow a “seep” though it equates to over a quarter million gallons of water each month.
On September 28th, we issued a call for help to the Minnesota Congressional Representatives and Senators, asking they request the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and Army Corp of Engineers (USACE) initiate a federal investigation of these concerns. Waadookawaad Amikwag finds evidence that the Clean Water Act, turning 50 years old this month, is being wantonly violated here in Minnesota as officials and agencies downplay and hide the impacts we’re witnessing.
September 28th to October 2nd, R.I.S.E. Coalition held a 2nd Annual Firelight Treaty Encampment to help educate the community on Treaty Rights and Responsibilities, support the field workers monitoring the nearby post-construction Enbridge Line 3/93 damages, and holding space in ceremony for nibi miinawaa manoomin (water and wild rice).
On October 1st, the anniversary of oil flow through Line 3/93, Honor the Earth issued a call to action as well, asking for a federal-level independent investigation of the post-construction situation here in Northern Minnesota’s Indian Country. Healing Minnesota Stories Scott Russell also shared this call and more details about Waadookawaad Amikwag’s field work.
October 6th, Waadookawaad Amikwag issued a draft Memorandum of Agreement on behalf of our flyover data partners (R.I.S.E. Coalition, Sierra Club, Honor the Earth, MN350, and White Earth Reservation) to AG Ellison along with DNR Commissioner Strommen, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Commissioner Kessler, and Public Utilities Chair Sieben. We asked for a response by October 21st on what agreements we might make around working together, using all the data that Water Protectors have gathered, to determine 1) how we can stop additional harms by Enbridge to the land and water and 2) find the least damaging methods, if they exist, to remediate the harms Enbridge has caused.
While we see new horrors each week in the post-Enbridge-construction landscape, the state continues to withhold this information from the public. It seems, only when we reveal the damages publicly ourselves, that the state will confirm to Minnesotans our findings about Enbridge’s post-construction water impacts.
Sinkhole on Enbridge’s Line 3/93 Tar Sands Pipeline Corridor at Walker Brook; Clearwater County. Hat gives a size reference. Several October water temperature measures have shown deep underground water emerging in an unrelenting flow from the land throughout this valley. (credit: Dan Gaither)
As was witnessed in early August for the LaSalle breach, our evidence forced the hand of the DNR to come clean and admit publicly that, on July 11th, Enbridge had reported ongoing “seeps” in the LaSalle Valley. The November 2021 thermal flyover revealed the unrelenting flow from the land just after Enbridge reported the LaSalle breach “fixed”. One measurement on one of the seeps at LaSalle shows flow of over 800,000 gallons per month. We’ve counted at least 6 “seeps”; Enbridge has marked at least 4.
We’ve issued press releases, yet the mainstream press rarely publishes on our work. We continue to be “our own news” as we like to say… the News for the People.
It seems, only when we reveal the damages publicly ourselves, that the state will confirm to Minnesotans our findings about Enbridge’s post-construction water impacts.
What will become of Minnesota, Land of 10,000 Lakes, if these deep water bodies are bled dry?
Please do what you can? Share our work, make calls to agencies and officials, watch the videos to comprehend the impacts on our ecosystems and our people.
Snowden, Manning, & Assange showed, by our own definitions, that the U.S. is guilty of war crimes. They have been imprisoned for revealing these truths.
Water Protectors and Land Defenders too have been charged and locked up for trying to tell the hard truths.
The unrelenting news of flooding, fires, drought, and ecological devastation shows little pause in the fray towards… “progress”.
At what point do humans come to understand that their own comforts [mostly enjoyed by the elite, mostly white, citizens] are the very destruction of the air on which they are dependent?
The water is being controlled, disregarded, and poisoned. The air and land are being polluted indiscriminately.
What are we doing to preserve the land, air, and water… on which we depend for the essentials of life?
Are we simply running towards our own deaths… and bringing death for so many more in the process?
We ignore truth to our own peril.
This post-construction anomaly was discovered along the Enbridge Corridor for their new Line 3 pipeline in Clearwater County.
We of Waadookawaad Amikwag continue to work to uncover the truth. Help us spread the word?
Share our videos and call for accountability.
Ask our “leaders” to explain what they are doing to hold Enbridge accountable for the post-construction damages throughout Northern Minnesota.
Tim Walz 800-657-3717
AG Ellison 800-657-3787
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (800) 657-3864 [I usually call Deputy Commissioner Peter Tester at 651-757-2013… though he doesn’t usually answer. Or return calls. Maybe that’s the MPCA way? 🤔]
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources 888-646-6367
Enbridge’s pipeline project created a hole, now releasing ground water in Clearwater County Minnesota. There are holes like this on either side of the waterway crossed here. There are over 200 water bodies crossed along the Enbridge pipeline route and we’ve seen damages like this at far too many of them.
And if you’ve given up on the state, as many of us have found them to be non-responsive… maybe try these folks:
I told Doc I’d send him something so if you can get this to him, it’s much appreciated. This song – Inches & Miles – is one of my faves and it came to mind during my numbing shot.
We were also talking about the damages done by Enbridge during their construction up here and how extensive it is and how the public is largely ignorant of the impacts – as Enbridge, with the apparent help of MN agencies, has worked hard to assure. Thought I’d send more info in case other questions arise or you wanna share info with folks there. [And… it turned into a novel… Take what you like and leave the rest! I been doing this too long. And… trigger warning: There are references below to some of the human impacts to women that are not easy reading.]
PLUS… Y’all may not realize it (as there is a lot of “behind the scenes secret stuff” in infrastructure work!!) yet the newest threat in southern Minnesota is CO2 pipelines. WAY MORE DANGEROUS than these tar sands pipelines – far more risks for citizen fatalities. I know CURE is working on this issue in case it affects any of your folks. [I heard Friday that State Farm is REFUSING to insure farmers who have CO2 pipelines in their land… so, THAT’S how dangerous they are.]
Anyhow… back to the ongoing horror of Enbridge up here in Lake Country.
Y’all saw the front page Strib piece last Tuesday on DNR finally reporting on the THREE aquifers Enbridge destroyed – bleeding our landscape dry in a year of already historic drought. Two breaches are within 8 and 25 miles of me; the third is near a friend’s house on Nagaajiwanaang / Fond du Lac Reservation (the breach is just off Reservation land). So many suffered here this summer. Wells drying up… So many who had to truck in water… Well, that’s just PART of the story.
And the worst on these aquifer breaches is that Paul Stolen, retired MNDNR, PREDICTED the troubles in LaSalle Valley – as he’d been on a PREVIOUS FRAC-OUT FAILURE… (see page 40 in the link; photos below). This testimony was from November 19, 2014. Six years before construction began.
Enbridge has worked very hard, spending millions, to assure most Minnesotans have no idea what they’re up to in Indian Country.
They talked of all the jobs they were going to bring, promising us locals HALF of them, then only delivering (MAYBE) 30% of the jobs to Minnesotans. Maybe… We don’t know. Seems Enbridge stopped reporting Minnesota jobs after their first dismal reporting on their numbers in Q4-2020.
“The PUC should have treated the Line 3 permits like a contract: “We will give you permission to build this pipeline under these conditions. If you fail to meet those conditions, then there are consequences.” It could be a $10 million fine, permit revocation, something to make sure that Minnesota got some meager benefit from this unnecessary pipeline.”
The main concern I’m facing at present are the impacts of Horizontal Directional Drilling frac-outs that happened during construction last summer. It seems these fluids may remain in our landscape and we see citizens monitoring water crossings – as MN agencies are largely unresponsive to the risks, parroting Enbridge talking points to assure all is well.
These are water samples taken March 1st in the Mississippi Headwaters a couple miles from my house (yeah, that’s my hand). The background of these photos is the Mississippi River Valley along Great River Road in Clearwater County, just a few miles north of the Headwaters crossing in Itasca State Park – as the crow flies. You can read more about this sampling in this FB Post from Indigenous Environmental Network or my blog: Minnesota Water Protectors: Now Working to save Wisconsin and Michigan Waters You can read more about the Aquifer issues in: My Birthday Blog Post… to the US Army Corps
Test Samples from Mississippi Headwaters in Clearwater County
Enbridge said in their Line 3 application to Minnesota there was a “Potential for inadvertent release of drilling fluids” and continued through the permitting process to submit evidence that the risk was “Low” at rivers like Mississippi.
Enbridge’s own documents (full of mis-statements and deception) point to the MPCA… “• According to the MPCA, release of drilling fluid is not unexpected.” {suddently they’re the experts on HDD???} instead of giving you the truth… which Enbridge knows… that frac-outs are common and expected.
Yet, even, prior to construction – during the boring process – samples taken to determine the geology of the route made clear that spills of drilling mud were common. That is not a LOW risk… but appears to be an assurance frac-outs would occur during HDD for the pipeline.
Slide from an HDD presentation by a MN Geologist to state agencies and lawmakers ~ December 10, 2021
Imagine the increase in losses for, not a small diameter boring hole but a 36″ diameter pipeline drilling 60′ below Mississippi… Now you have an idea of what is “potentially” in our landscape at the Headwaters in the aftermath of Enbridge.
And, moving to the clear human impacts here along the Corridor, from those faced by local citizens… to Indigenous women, who face a 10X higher risk of assault, including rape.
This story covers the frac-out experience from the perspective of a friend of mine who I refer to as “the lady at the second Mississippi crossing” while I’m the “lady” at the first. She lives on land at the crossing near Palisade, MN. Her family has been here for generations.
I personally know dozens of women who have been brutalized along this construction route. Maybe the most disturbing case to hit the public news was a woman who was raped in Bemidji outside a bar. The rapist was released on bail and… when they sent his trial notice, it came back from Idaho undeliverable. So he’s still out there somewhere. This is Enbridgeland.
The most disturbing story shared to me was of a friend brutally beaten and raped with chunks of her hair being torn from her scalp. She’s Native though. So we’ll likely never see justice for the men who raped and beat her. It’s a different system of justice for Native women than white women up here. This is why you may be familiar with the term MMIW, as, in recent years, Minnesota has finally created an office to deal with Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.
Sorry if this is too much. My own marriage is struggling and this feels largely due to the trauma imposed by the Enbridge pipeline in our backyard. The treads on the timber matting road sound like military tanks rolling through… and the devastation they leave is worse than that feeling. My life has been consumed by working to protect the land and water, and Dan has struggled to watch as he’s unable to stop the attacks on women and the devastation to the land. It’s hard for a man in this country to live with being unable to protect those he loves. It seems to be destroying him. It’s devastated us both.
Adding Covid to the mix didn’t help. Enbridge rejoiced as they were able to work largely unimpeded or unseen by locals, who were locked down in their homes while Enbridge workers ran amok. […all except that crazy lady in her back yard who filmed most of their work there!]
Our covid case counts and deaths along the corridor were higher than necessary because the state of Minnesota would not consider the pipeline work to be unnecessary – and delay it until after the pandemic surge. Thousands of pipeline workers from places like Texas, Oklahoma, Montana, Michigan, North Dakota, Idaho, Arkansas… converged on Minnesota likely hurting our overall Covid performance and bringing more death locally. How much lower could these middle and third waves have been – as they correlate to the times Enbridge came (October-2021 through March-2021 & June-2021 thru October-2021).
Many felt this was another piece of the genocide as Natives were at far higher risk for Coronavirus and this pipeline runs straight through the heart of Indian Country.
Though you all know the horrors of Covid far better than I do. Dealing with infrastructure changes like plastic panels was the least of it I’m guessing. Figuring out how to do your work – IN PPL’S MOUTHS, no less! WOW. More though, I’m guessing, was the living in fear each day as you wondered if you’d be exposed… get really sick… or, worse, carry the disease to someone you love. This has been a horror of wondering and waiting… and it feels we’re all still recovering – maybe we will be for years yet?
I know I missed most of that foregoing my cleanings for so long. And my teeth suffered, though perhaps more from the trauma of living in a pipeline construction zone, being rumbled from bed by heavy equipment day after day, watching them clear cut the forest you love. That trauma has been key in my own physical deterioration. I can only imagine how hard it’s been for those less fortunate than us.
Not sure if you realized but one of the original corridors of consideration for Enbridge’s Line 3 replacement pipeline was along I-94. Could have brought those promised “Minnesota jobs” to Alexandrians… so I guess you guys lucked out on that one? Cold comfort when you come here and see the impacts. Thousands of trees have been culled from the landscape. I’ve heard from ppl along the corridor that their vacationing/cabin neighbors and visitors to Lake Country have been pretty astounded to see some of the changes. And we still have equipment present near Fond du Lac.
Thanks again for all your good work. You guys Suck the Best!! ;D This eyetooth is still a bit sensitive this morning so I’ll keep an eye on it. Maybe that’s normal for a few days? Looking forward to seeing y’all again in May. And if anyone you know is interested, send my info to them as I’m always glad to help educate people about what Enbridge and other polluters are working to bring to Minnesota.
Huber Frontier Mill in Cohasset seems the next big unnecessary debacle… a new OSB plant built a few miles down the road from an existing OSB plant that’s closing… again, screwing over the Native Nations in our fair state (the tree take circle includes most of the Reservation lands here). And… wait for it… MN taxpayers forking over $80M to help it happen!
This time, the decision was made – not by a state agency but a CITY COUNCIL – with NO Environmental Impact Statement! AND without public input allowed at the vote… though MANY had shown up to have their voices heard that day! WTF? There goes our Democracy???
It’s really getting scary how government is working to sell off our state resources as fast as they can… this time, more of our Tree Nation.
I’ll end with another of my favorite Heywood Banks selections… this one is pretty appropriate for the above rantings?
Below is my commentary to the WI DNR regarding their proposed Line 5 Relocation project. You can review the project DEIS information and make your own comments through March 18th. (Note: This public input opportunity has been extended through April 15, 2022.)
You are invited to provide written comments on the Draft EIS. Send comments by email to DNROEEACOMMENTS@WI.GOV or by U.S. mail to “Line 5 EIS Comments, DNR (EA/7),” 101 South Webster Street Madison, WI 53707. All written comments must be emailed or postmarked no later than Friday, March 18, 2022.
This project is promoted by Enbridge as honoring the Bad River Band’s request… to remove the Line 5 pipeline from their watershed. However, as is obvious to all but the dullest among us, this removal WAS NOT ACCOMPLISHED with this NEW ROUTE. This pipeline relocation project LEAVES Line 5 within the watershed, thus CONTINUING to risk the waters of Lake Superior, one of the largest remaining freshwater sources for human survival.
What could go wrong? Well, a quick look at the aftermath of the rushed Line 3 project in Minnesota has a few answers… and most of them involve risks of fresh water. Though, yes, the trees that were culled remain the most visible damage, as the scar of this new corridor of destruction is most clear as it passes through forests where thousands of our relatives were culled for a tar sands pipeline to make its way.
And many are, in hindsight, realizing the aftermath of Enbridge’s destruction of our landscape. For example, this recent LTE from Matt Horning, a physician along the new route, which notes this key directive with regard to the Line 5 Re-Route project:
All concerned should request the DNR and ACE safeguard aquifers, monitor private wells at baseline and during pipeline construction and operation, and record and publish the chemical structures and amounts of all drilling materials used and recovered at each HDD site.”
Matt Horning, an Ashland physician who owns property along the L5 re-route3/4/22 LTE
Matt is right. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, in NOT requiring Enbridge to account for all the horizontal directional drilling mud INTO and OUT OF their drill sites, seem to have assured that Minnesotans would not have the access to information on how much of this drill mud was left in our land. It is clear now, as we continue to see brown and orange continuing to upwell in our landscape and show visible evidence of change in our rivers, that Enbridge DID NOT clean up their frac-out messes.
In the end, tribal members and citizen scientists are seemingly the only ones working now to document the tragedy that remains… in hopes we can bring accountability for real clean-up. And, indeed, prevent Enbridge from poisoning the lands and waters of what we now call Wisconsin and Michigan.
Based on what we’re finding thus far, Wisconsin has a lot to concern them if Minnesota is any indication.
On March 1st, a month after this DEIS hearing where I gave the below comments, a group of us went out to sample the water in the Mississippi Headwaters adjacent to the Enbridge New Line 3 (now Line 93) corridor. What we found was troubling. [Analysis is pending.]
Now… to my comments at the WI DNR Draft Environmental Impact Statement hearing on February 2, 2022. [Ironically… also Groundhog Day? Let’s just hope it doesn’t take us as many tries as it took Bill Murray to figure out how to do things right. If it does… Enbridge might win… but humanity loses. Well, let’s be clear… as we’ve watched for decades now: The elder (mostly white) elites will have the best chance at enjoying full lives of comfort and ease… while they eat up the world real quick… leaving Nothing Much for our children and grandchildren with which to build their own lives.]
Bad River: Remove this pipeline from our watershed. Enbridge: This looks about right. Everyone (Everywhere): Uh, nope… still in the Lake Superior watershed, Enbridge.
My name is Jami Gaither.
I live in 1855 Treaty Territory near Upper Rice Lake ten miles north of the Mississippi Headwaters.
Credit to the Wisconsin DNR for creating a DEIS that appears more considerate to the Tribes and the environment than what we saw in Minnesota for Enbridge’s Line 3. Yet, the notice for public input, had a striking miss, not highlighting that all these lands drain into Lake Superior.
I noticed also that 4 of 5 occurrences of the word “risk” in this DEIS happen in the title and paragraph at the top of page 255. That seems a few too few mentions of “risk”.
As an abutter to the project, I witnessed Enbridge’s destruction first hand.
This rushed project included a DNR allowance on June 4th, 2021 for a 10-fold increase in Enbridge’s dewatering permit to 5 billion gallons – during a year of historic drought, no less – and ignoring the voices of the Tribes asking us to honor the rights of Manoomin.
Perhaps one single incident tells you all you need to know about how Enbridge does business, regardless of what they’ve agreed to on paper.
On January 21, 2021, Enbridge contractors punched through a natural artesian aquifer in Clearbrook – their company town – in a willful violation of their Low Risk Construction Permit which allowed digging to only 8′ to 10′. The operators dug an 18′ deep trench and pounded steel pilings into the earth to a depth of 28′, rupturing the rural aquifer.
While unrelenting water flow was reported in the (quote) “independent” (unquote) monitoring reports, the DNR failed to recognize the damage until it was discovered during a lunchtime conversation between monitors and DNR staff. While DNR began communications with Enbridge mid-June, it would be three more months before the public was informed of this disaster. And, in fact, the DNR reports at least two additional aquifer breach investigations, whose locations have yet to be made public.
While Enbridge completed building their pipeline, our aquifer bled out tens of millions of gallons of water as nearby fens suffered.
We asked, over and over, for the agencies to come up and stand in this land, to meet her and know her as we do. It’s clear with all the collateral damage, that Enbridge had no understanding of this land. The Minnesota DNR and MPCA failed to listen to the public testimony on the risks from people who had the needed expertise and who had done their homework. And now everyone is suffering.
I urge you to learn from our mistakes. Protect your land by heeding the voices of those speaking on her behalf.
Stop Enbridge destruction.
Deny this project a life… as you save those on whom your grandchildren will depend.
Miigwech bizindaawiiyeg. Thank you for listening to me.
Today’s blog focuses on the feedback I gave recently to the MN Climate Subcabinet’s Climate Action Framework document on which they are seeking input through tomorrow. [No pressure! Though if you want to send an email, you can address it to: climate.mn@state.mn.us – though if you look at their page asking for feedback, there’s no deadline listed… and… no date of issue! That’s how MN rolls! The 2/1/22 notice I saw on this work noted: The Climate Change Subcabinet will release a final Climate Action Framework in mid-2022. ] [NOTE: Email Address corrected 2/15/22.]
Before I could comment on the Framework documents, I needed to educate myself on their congratulatory notice of MN successes, so there is some coverage of the “ECO” Act of 2021 as well.
Good day, Climate Subcabinet. Thanks for requesting input from Minnesotans. [Here’s to hoping they actually READ IT!!]
Just to begin, I’d ask the obvious question that is on the minds of thousands of Minnesotans:
HOW can MN say we’re making progress on Climate after allowing Enbridge to RUSH AND INSTALL its Line 3 Tar Sands Pipeline Relocation and Expansion project as the Fossil Fuel Industry faces tremendous controversy as it approaches its demise?
This recent experience, including the YEARS LONG Public Opposition, which was largely ignored by the Walz Administration, seems to show the blindness Minnesota has with regard to the urgency and direction we need to move in order to protect biodiversity and place for continued human existence here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
The only accomplishment Walz can seemingly claim for his work on improving climate change is still years down the road from realizing true benefits… and will also bring FURTHER DEVASTATION to MINNESOTA as the Clean Cars work seems reliant on MINING northern Minnesota to oblivion to become the reality some envision.
As I read this “Climate Action Framework”, SO MANY QUESTIONS come to mind.
Like… Why did the News Release on the ECO Act NOT include a LINK to the Act, for ready access to the details? Are you embarrassed at how MUCH this act provides to corporations that continue to eat away Minnesota’s rich – but quickly being decimated – Natural Resources? Instead, we’re given the narrative the administration wants us to hear… with no easy way to check this reporting for ourselves?
Governor Walz calls it “nation-leading energy conservation legislation” and even Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan, a member of White Earth Reservation, says the act “expands our commitment to low-income consumers”… yet this “ECO” Act is only ECO in it’s acronym: Energy Conservation and Optimization Act of 2021. Its entire focus being, not on our NATURAL ENVIRONMENT, but on the financials and efficiencies of anthropocenic energy use.
It begins:
The legislature finds that energy savings are an energy resource, and that cost-effective energy savings are preferred over all other energy resources. In addition, the legislature finds that optimizing the timing and method used by energy consumers to manage energy use provides significant benefits to the consumers and to the utility system as a whole. The legislature further finds that cost-effective energy savings and load management programs should be procured systematically and aggressively in order to reduce utility costs for businesses and residents, improve the competitiveness and profitability of businesses, create more energy-related jobs, reduce the economic burden of fuel imports, and reduce pollution and emissions that cause climate change.”
WHERE does this address the effects on the natural world? It only seems to serve rule-making and ideologies around how humans manage their own extractive and anthropocene energy needs, not truly dealing with the climate impacts directly but, giving us a distraction to pretend we’re making progress… as we continue to assist large energy facility work. In other words, it seems only a bunch of busywork to be done as the spaceship on which we all depend for every aspect of our lives, continues its downward spiral of bad health… which leads eventually to the extinction of humanity.
Not serving the people, but facilities… the first point under the Large Customer Facility section is about creating opportunities for exemptions. [Who doesn’t love a loophole?!? FFS.]
The owner of a large customer facility may petition the commissioner to exempt both electric and gas utilities serving the large customer facility from the investment and expenditure requirements of paragraph (a) contributing to investments and expenditures made under an energy and conservation optimization plan filed under subdivision 2 or section 216B.2403, subdivision 3, with respect to retail revenues attributable to the large customer facility. … Once an exemption is approved, the commissioner may request the owner of a large customer facility to submit, not more often than once every five years, a report demonstrating the large customer facility’s ongoing commitment to energy conservation and efficiency improvement after the exemption filing. The commissioner may request such reports for up to ten years after the effective date of the exemption, unless the majority ownership of the large customer facility changes, in which case the commissioner may request additional reports for up to ten years after the change in ownership occurs. The commissioner may, within 180 days of receiving a report submitted under this paragraph, rescind any exemption granted under this paragraph upon a determination that the large customer facility is not continuing to make reasonable efforts to identify, evaluate, and implement energy conservation improvements.”
It seems this basically implements authorization to charge rate-payers with the work the state is asking to be done, simply another way for the People to fund this mandated “ECO” work and thus improve the bottom lines for Utility providers.
Further, item (b) seems to provide even MORE LEEWAY to charge the public for these concerns:
(b) A public utility may file annually, or the Public Utilities Commission may require the public utility to file, and the commission may approve, rate schedules containing provisions for the automatic adjustment of charges for utility service in direct relation to changes in the expenses of the public utility for real and personal property taxes, fees, and permits, the amounts of which the public utility cannot control. A public utility is eligible to file for adjustment for real and personal property taxes, fees, and permits under this subdivision only if, in the year previous to the year in which it files for adjustment, it has spent or invested at least 1.75 percent of its gross revenues from provision of electric service, excluding gross operating revenues from electric service provided in the state to large electric customer facilities for which the commissioner has issued an exemption…”
The Climate Action Framework’s “Working Together” section on page 17 pushes me to continue to wonder, HOW exactly Tribal Nations were involved with the writing of this framework. Here’s the statement on Tribal Nations role and leadership from the document:
However, based on the Walz Administration’s implementation of EO 19-24, it seems the State CLEARLY LACKS an ability to comprehend their TRUE obligation to Federal Trust Responsibilities. This sentence on page 19 perhaps gives insight to what we can expect… more of the same?
“The State of Minnesota must uphold treaty responsibilities in all State decisions, public processes, and policies by protecting the land, native foods, and the cultural heritage of Indigenous Minnesotans.”
Note this does not say “will” but “must”. Which has always been the case… throughout time immemorial, yet the respect for Tribal sovereignty has been an ongoing divisive issue here in Minnesotan when it comes to implementation of “law”.
The second paragraph notes the State “will work with Tribal Nations” but what we’ve seen to date has given NO INDICATION that the state will do what is required, which is to CONSULT with Tribes, not notify them, as we’ve witnessed over and over, including the most recent implementation of a permit issued locally for a new OSB plant for Huber Manufacturing adjacent to the Leech Lake Reservation… a project the Tribe learned about in a press release.
On page 20 of the Framework the topic of Water arises… which again returns my thoughts to the Line 3 project as it was installed with one segment just a stone’s throw from the St. Louis River itself, and with the project placed within St. Louis River’s recently (and expensively) restored Estuary. Unless this document is truly going to bring a CHANGE in the way MN interacts with the Tribes, I fail to see that it will be effective or even lawful.
Again, the only climate-related “success” of the Walz administration comes first – with Goal 1: Clean transportation focused on Clean Cars proposals and goals. But Minnesota must remember, while some of this work, especially that focused on more human-powered transport options, is good, the move to EVs will also be pushing for more intensive pressure for mining in Minnesota as humans have failed to implement Cradle-to-Grave systems where components and materials of products are re-used, recycled, or managed in a way to prevent continued heavy extraction of natural resources. I’d ask, what inputs from the Tribe were MOST HELPFUL in the implementation of the Clean Cars legislation? What suggestions of theirs can we call out in the Climate Action Framework verbiage?
The section on Goal 2: Climate-smart natural and working lands, on page 28, makes me consider the FAST PACE at which Minnesotans are slashing our population of trees across the state, recently notable with the work done to create a new corridor of destruction for the Enbridge Line 3 debacle. Large trees are better sequesters of carbon than small trees, yet MDNR appears geared to continue culling trees to support economic gains, without truly considering the importance of these Relatives. Even MNDOT is seemingly dismissive of trees suggesting now that along Highway 34 in Becker County, instead of say, reducing the speed limit for cars in the Smokey Hills Forest area, they want to cull trees on the south side of the road to enhance solar warming of the roadway to reduce traffic accidents. HOW ANTHROPOGENIC CAN WE BE? As we CULL the very beings that produce the oxygen we breathe?
I note on page 29 the sub-goal to “Prioritize groundwater and drinking water protection in vulnerable areas.” Yet we saw the Line 3 project given NO ONGOING POST-CONSTRUCTION MONITORING requirements in the MPCA permits. WHY NOT? Why is there no monitoring to assure the chemicals and muds pumped into our environment during horizontal directional drilling (HDD) – under many of our vital and important water bodies – is OK? No monitoring to ASSURE our groundwater and the water in our rivers that many depend on for drinking, like the Mississippi, which was affected in two places along the corridor, remain SAFE?
The various Initiatives noted on pages 31 to 34, while mentioning “emerging crops” give us NO MENTION OF “HEMP” – a vital and resilient friend that we long ago abandoned, for a variety of reasons, and demonized with a campaign on “Reefer Madness” among other tactics to instead promote extractive options. That this crop, specifically being promoted by a major Indigenous leader in our state, Winona LaDuke, is ignored, seems just another indicator of how LITTLE CREEDENCE was given to heeding Native Voices in this Climate Action Framework. While the section ends discussing “Equity”, it seems clear this is not something the Climate Cabinet understands.
While each section gives a focus on Equity, Goal 3: Resilient communities reminds me that, if we see continued actions as we have in Minnesota, without real change in adding voices of those most affected in vulnerable communities – perhaps even CONSULTING with them on projects that impact them, as is required by work in Tribal territories – might bring real change. But as long as the “systemic” changes continue, focused on a cultural understanding of white supremacy, I imagine most of the improvements we see will continue to disproportionately assist whiter and/or wealthier communities.
The section on Goal 4: Clean energy and efficient buildings could use a little proof-reading as the first sentence on page 47 reads: ” Minnesota’s electricity generation is getting cleaner: 55% came from carbon-free resources in 2020.” Yet the graph adjacent to this paragraph shows that the 55% was our CARBON-BASED Energy, not the carbon-free: 48% in Coal & 7% in Natural Gas = 55% of carbon-based energies. So, you can change the percentage to 45%… or you can modify to show that the majority of our energy is actually NOT from “carbon-free resources”. [This may explain why the Climate Cabinet continues to struggle? You have a mis-guided idea of where we are… let alone where we need to go?]
That said, this section captures where Minnesota is failing… noting: “The industrial and the building sector are both experiencing a rise in GHG emissions. Since 2005, GHG in the industrial sector have increased by 18%. In that same time period, GHG emissions in the commercial building sector have increased by 15% and emissions in the residential building sector have increased by 32%. This is partly driven by greater heating and cooling demands caused by our changing climate. ” [Can you see the vicious circle now, Climate Subcabinet members?]
While your Initiatives focus on a transition to 100% carbon-free energy by 2040, Minnesota just approved Enbridge to build a tar sands pipeline, committing us to decades more of fossil-fuel based pollution. How does this make sense? Especially as the project risks the clean waters on which we depend for life… and culled thousands of trees that provide not only oxygen but also store carbon? And, again, when it comes to Equity… these works seem to affect communities of color disproportionately historically. I’m finding it incredible that we might see Minnesota able to both amend past injustices and begin to work in ways that don’t create MORE injustice… as we just witnessed in 2021, concurrent to your work in developing this Climate Framework?
Perhaps the most hard to believe section is that on Goal 5: Healthy lives and communities. While there was a full court press for the pandemic, far more people die each year from pollution than died from Covid. Yet we see no real programs on pollution mitigation and improvement on the level we watched the Covid response unfold. Instead, we hear many reports in recent years on how ALL OUR WATER, in fact, all our BODIES, contain PFAS. The word-salad in this section seems especially condescending as it provides no real clarity on exactly how we will make the change, just lofty goals and vague ideas that give no secure feeling we will actually DO THIS WORK.
Nope, I was mistaken!! Section 6: Clean economy is the hardest to believe. After spending the last 7 years working to educate Minnesota’s Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, Public Utility Commission, and various and sundry Agencies, most prolifically those of DNR, PCA and Health, I’ve seen little to encourage me that any of these parties are listening to the voices of MINNESOTANS. The goals of our economy seem largely based on “workers” and business (though, really, it’s just business, isn’t it?) as called out in the SHORT FORM challenges noted. Seems the biggest concern I’ve noted for Minnesota is not hearing Tribal voices, working to protect vulnerable communities, or even protecting land, air and water for Minnesotans… but instead it is to assure we “don’t leave workers or businesses behind.”
Let’s be honest. We’ve “been in transition” since 2007 when Governor Pawlenty gave us the Next Generation Energy Act. And, while we’ve seen some progress along the way, in recent years what we see is the desperation of a system that is on the verge of collapse as we find more and more severe weather events, less and less social justice, and growing global impacts as well, that show we’re far from assured to make the progress hoped for in this Climate Action Framework.
Though I know six of the contributors to this document, mainly from MPCA and DNR, I see no names of scientists I know, representatives from climate advocacy organizations, or even any Minnesota Native names… in fact, the only Native contributor I recognize (MPCA’s Tribal Liaison) is not from Minnesota’s Tribal Community.
Again, this document gives lofty goals, as do most of the frameworks and plans I’ve seen presented by Minnesota State Government. Yet I fail to see much hope that 1) these will be implemented in a good way (based on what I’ve watched to date in Minnesota government) or 2) they will be successful (as we seemingly fail to recognize the urgency with which action is needed or stress the focus on Indigenous knowledge and RECIPROCITY that will be required to move forward WITH Mother Earth).
Appendix 1 on State Action Steps is full of words like evaluate, prioritize, develop, deploy, collaborate, encourage… but the check boxes for Lead, Enact, and Encourage show far more hopes for Leading and Encouraging than actually Enacting.
Here’s one where Enact is checked but not the other two… which may be telling if it’s for what it brings to my mind, which is the Huber Manufacturing OSB plant just approved near Leech Lake Reservation.
2.5.2 Promote the use of forest products that store carbon and reduce GHG emissions: Enhance markets for long-lived wood products that increase carbon storage and substitute for more fossil-fuel intensive materials
Huber’s OSB plant may be justified by some climate-minimizing statistical calculations (you can prove ANYTHING with statistics if you try hard enough), though it certainly does NOT show Leadership for Climate Mitigation or Encouragement of Protection for Vulnerable Communities… as they plan to take many of the trees surrounding their plant and turn them into housing materials? [Again, with the Leech Lake Tribal government learning about this plant permit in a Press Release… HOW exactly are we ENACTING CONSULTATION?]
Telling of our desperation is this item:
3.3.1 Advance climate adaptation in residential & commercial development: Research ways to increase resiliency of buildings to extreme precipitation, flooding, extended heat waves, urban heat island effects, grid failure from extreme weather, and other climate change impacts [Uh, this recognition of the troubles coming our way (and for some already here) is not balanced by any urgency noted in this planning framework.] Or item 2 on this Sub-Initiative: Adopt resiliency provisions in codes, permits, and policies for new construction, rehabilitation and adaptive reuse, and create resilient design standards [Which gives no confidence that we actually have real plans for HOW TO DO THIS… let alone any certainly that we can do it quickly enough.] Or this third idea on the same bullet point: Encourage new construction and rehabilitation of housing to plan for resiliency/adaptation (e.g., waterproofing basements, raising mechanicals and coordinating with energy improvements, installing mold resistant and passive cooling building features), ensuring new developments build outside of higher risk flood areas that retain the natural benefits those areas often provide. [This is just an encouragement… when it could be more robust with rule-making or legislation.]
In the end, this seems a dreamy document, not based in the reality of our circumstance or the urgency of our situation at present. This is an ongoing concern I’ve been voicing to Minnesota officials and agencies for years now, that we are not taking the situation seriously enough and, perhaps especially as Minnesotans, not aggressively pursuing NEW WAYS to do the things more critical to our survival, but instead continuing to work within the white supremacy based systems we already have in place; systems which have offered little hope for the Native, Scientific and/or Youth advocates to be heard. These advocates, who worked diligently to prevent NEW fossil fuel infrastructure in 2021… as global calls for ending fossil-fuel infrastructure development continue to grow louder and more demanding, are instead facing prosecution as Minnesota continues to reveal its ever-present racist past rearing its ugly head.
If we look to the future and a green economy, Sub-Initiative 6.1.1 Grow green economy jobs through innovation gives little hope as again, we see ENCOURAGEMENT, not legislation or regulation to prevent damage or propose better solutions for this line item: Work with industry to advance process improvements that are better for our climate and for worker health
When it comes to policy, the actual work seems focused on things that FURTHER DETERIORATE Minnesota’s natural resources, as we watch friends continue opposition to Polymet and other mining initiatives still being considered by the State of Minnesota.
The things in these documents that make sense are largely well-known from the data and information we’ve had for decades, yet we have watched in this same time as Minnesota waters have become MORE impaired, State Agency work has culled MORE of our trees, and pollution has continued to worsen.
You all did a good job of assessing current short-comings but little to instill hope for a changed future. I hope you will take a look at my input and add detail and clarity on HOW this work will progress, not just the dreamy ideals on which it holds hope.
To close, I feel the most HONEST page in the Framework is the Vision page:
This at least seems to give insight to the lack of consideration you will give to Trees, as you fade them into the background, hiding their glorious color… and Children and perhaps even Minnesota herself, both shown as about as tiny as they could be on this graphic. Sad really. But, based on my experience, true.
Thank you for your consideration.
I’ll note, while I was disappointed to not be selected for this Climate Subcabinet, I can see now that it likely would have felt largely like a waste of time generating dreamy ideals not based in reality and largely leaving Minnesota beholden to corporate interests. So, for that, at least, I thank you.
I’m wondering if you can answer some of my questions regarding the continued concerns we have along the Enbridge Corridor.
While I’ve been reaching out to the MPCA’s reported Tribal Liaison, I’ve had no response.
As an abutter to the project, who’s been working with my friends, including many Native women leaders, for years now… to stop this project through Indian country, I was hopeful that my that my questions would matter to the MPCA and would get response.
Perhaps you can tell me what, if anything, is being done to address the frac-out conditions that appear to be still rising in the Mississippi Headwaters River Valley here? The beavers have noted it and are working to mitigate.
11-10-21 Photo of Mizi-Ziibi with Miskwaabiimizh from Amik (Mississippi River with Red Willow from Beaver)
They, Amikwag, seem the only ones doing anything about our environmental concerns along Line 3, or Line 93, as Enbridge had dubbed their new project, as is evidence by the Red Willow (Miskwaabiimizh) being placed in the flow of Misi-ziibi just downstream of the pipeline crossing.
Let me know if you have any answers regarding the ongoing disturbances to our flora and fauna along this project, which continues to gain attention… especially as Enbridge continues to be ever present in our neighborhoods up here in Clearwater County.
Just yesterday we saw a large Precision Pipeline semi trundling past the house mid-afternoon.
Maybe you can tell me what is happening in the forests and wetlands near my home?
Thanks for your consideration. ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
While prior to construction the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources was given less attention than the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (as the agency responsible for the 401 Clean Water Permit), it seems the DNR and MPCA have now switched places with the DNR getting most of the attention and the MPCA getting little.
Not that paying attention to the DNR construction permits would have made a difference… because Enbridge willfully violated those permits in their actions that burst open the Aquifer at the Clearbrook terminal.
But the lack of oversight was clear from both Agencies.
Both Agencies failed to stop this project when, by all rights, they should have.
Problem is… no Minnesota State Agency appears to have wanted to stop the Project.
The story most telling of their unwillingness to stop the Project goes way back to February 5th of last year, almost 2 years ago now.
A group of Minnesota scientists – including retirees from both MDNR & MPCA as well as Healthcare Professionals for Healthy Climate (HP4HC) and Science for the People – Twin Cities (SftP), joined Indigenous Leaders from RISE Coalition and Honor the Earth, along with state non-profit groups (Sierra Club & MN350), along with legal and spiritual representation, to FINALLY meet with MPCA staff to discuss how they could work to deny the 401 permit for the tar sands pipeline project – opposed by all these groups.
The arrival at the MPCA that morning was different from other times we’d visited the MPCA for meetings. While many of the representatives had traveled hours from Northern Minnesota, hoping to, as usual, gather in the cafeteria for refreshment and review prior to our meeting, the desk staff refused us entry. The first members of our group were two young white men, one representing MN350 and one Honor the Earth. Others of us – still on the road – were contacted for help and we reached out to MPCA staff to determine what the problem might be. On arrival of my caravan, which included retired MPCA staff, two citizens who live along the Enbridge route, and a pastor (all white), and following some additional discussion, we were eventually led back to the cafeteria by an MPCA staffer.
To show the level of concern and fear of Minnesota Citizens in our Agencies, then-Commissioner Laura Bishop came personally to the cafeteria to explain, “they thought you might be protesters.”
She apologized and left us to our lunch. It was only in hindsight that we’d realize why they may have been so touchy… as they were readying a weapon that aimed to derail the public… and it was just about to launch.
On arrival to the MPCA conference room, we were welcomed and seated. And then came the moment of truth for me in this campaign, the moment that I realized how FUCKED we were when it came to the MPCA.
Commissioner Bishop came into the room as the meeting began and gleefully announced that, AS WE SPOKE [Oh, boy!], the MPCA had just issued a memo noting…
wait for it….
The MPCA had Issued a Draft APPROVAL for Enbridge’s draft 401 permit!
All I could think, as this bombshell exploded was: Why. THE. FUCK. Are WE even HERE? If the decision had already been made by the Agency?
Just another in the short list of “let’s pretend we’re gonna listen to the Water Protectors” meetings that were never intended to truly hear us. Instead, we were left to work on how to make the public hearings as ROBUST for Public Comment as possible. [Though it would later become clear, that testimony would also be largely ignored by the MPCA.]
Peter Tester, who became Commissioner temporarily when Laura resigned the following summer (on the cusp of being fired by the Senate, and likely to assure she could be placed AGAIN in a position of influence, which dismissal by the Senate would preclude) made a couple big promises that day, neither of which were fulfilled. 1) To review and consider any documentation we could provide to show why the permit should not be granted. 2) To be accountable to us.
Since that meeting, one of the VERY FEW given to Minnesota citizens hoping to Stop the unnecessary Enbridge pipeline project, all that we’ve seen from the MPCA and DNR has been failure.
1) Failure to WATCH Enbridge as they worked on one of the largest infrastructure projects to not benefit Minnesota that has ever crossed the state.
2) Failure to pull permits when Enbridge violations were discovered.
There are many places the states agencies failed us and a few of the most egregious during construction were:
Enbridge’s frac-out into the Mississippi River at the second crossing. 6000-9000 gallons of drilling mud frac-out into Misi-ziibi… DURING A PERIOD WHEN DRILLING WAS RESTRICTED FROM HAPPENING! [June 25th – violating the April 1- June 30 restriction period.] This was the first of frac-outs that occurring in Mississippi River. [MPCA FAILURE]
July frac-outs into Misi-ziibi Headwaters at the first crossing, where frac-out materials were left in the wetlands and, to this day, continue to show presence in the River Valley. [MPCA FAILURE]
Unbeknownst to citizens, until the mid-September notice, Enbridge willfully violated their construction permit, not informing the DNR of an aquifer breach for almost 5 months! Even though the DNR knew of the problems and it’s effects by early July, no notice was given to citizens for TWO MORE MONTHS… as Enbridge construction continued along the remainder of their corridor. [MDNR FAILURE]
I ask AGAIN: IF THESE PERMITS ARE NOT ALLOWING US TO STOP PROJECTS THAT VIOLATE THEM, WHAT IS THEIR PURPOSE?
And now we see: 1) A lack of work to remedy failures to the 401 permit on the frac-out concerns that remain.
2) Continued and apparently failing work by Enbridge to remedy the KNOWN Aquifer Breach in Clearbrook. TEN (10) full months since it happened now! LONGER THAN IT TOOK TO BUILD 337 MILES of Tar Sands Pipeline across our state… which was apparently the priority to remedying the aquifer breach threatening fragile calcareous fens. [FFS. If this doesn’t awaken people to the State’s priorities, will anything? (see more on that at the end of the blog…)]
3) No public transparency to the other two Breaches reportedly in existence per the DNR.
As we saw with COP26, our Agencies and “Leaders” are failing us. Not just here in Minnesota, but around the world, as they appear bound to helping their fossil fuel friends continue to destroy our planetary home.
Want to read more on the forest devastation being driven by our fossil fueled world? Check this out.
Want to read more on groups working to hold the Minnesota DNR accountable? Check out this recent blog post from Agate‘s Stephanie Hemphill.
Update: Received a response from Ms. Kuskie on 11/30/21 (after I re-requested a response):
Hi Jami,
Apologies for the delayed response, I was out of office last week. Though primary construction of the line is generally complete, the MPCA continues to review monitoring information and oversee ongoing work, and the independent environmental monitors are still active. HDD work, where pressurized drilling mud was in use, ended in early August, and the MPCA made available information on the “frac outs” reported to us around that time. I apologize for being unable to provide further detail at this time; Minn Stat 13.39 classifies as non-public data related to active investigations.
Thanks for reaching out last week and for sending me a nudge today.
-melissa
Response – or should I say Non-response… from Ms. Kuskie 11/30/21 13:26
Apparently, the public doesn’t need to know anything.
Two breaches are within 8 and 25 miles of me; the third is near a friend’s house on Nagaajiwanaang / Fond du Lac Reservation (the breach is just off Reservation land). So many suffered here this summer. Wells drying up… So many who had to truck in water… Well, that’s just PART of the story. 
It’s devastated us both.
That trauma has been key in my own physical deterioration. I can only imagine how hard it’s been for those less fortunate than us.
again, screwing over the Native Nations in our fair state (the tree take circle includes most of the Reservation lands here). And… wait for it… 
MN taxpayers forking over $80M to help it happen! 
WTF? There goes our Democracy??? 
Retired at 45 