Enbridge starts construction on Line 3 in Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS — Enbridge Energy began construction on its Line 3 crude oil pipeline replacement in Minnesota on Tuesday, a day after state regulators approved the final permit for the $2.6 billion project amid legal challenges from local activist and Indigenous groups. “The workforce will ramp up as construction continues eventually creating over 4,000 family-sustaining, mostly local construction jobs, millions of dollars in local spending and additional tax revenues at a time when Northern Minnesota needs it most.” Two tribes — the Red Lake and White Earth Bands of Chippewa — asked the PUC last week to stay its approval of the project, saying the influx of construction workers would put residents along the route at higher risk of COVID-19. Several activists and Indigenous groups filed a lawsuit Monday evening challenging the MPCA’s permit approval, citing the pipeline’s threat to waters where Native Americans harvest wild rice and negative effect on climate change. In a statement on Tuesday, Winona LaDuke, executive director of Honor the Earth, said Enbridge will continue to see legal challenges from activists and Indigenous groups to “prevent this tar sands pipeline from ever being completed.” “As construction begins, some big questions need to be asked: What if the Appeals Court sides against Enbridge in the legal cases before it?