Wednesday, February 3, 2021
This week, the Minnesota Court of Appeals failed to halt construction of the Line 3 tar sands pipeline. Coalition members who have been fighting this project for years released the following statements:
“The Red Lake Nation is very disappointed that the Minnesota Courts place more weight on the employment of out of town pipeline workers than it does the irreparable harm that construction causes to our water, wild rice, and forests,” said Joe Plumer, attorney for Red Lake Nation.
“It’s disappointing,” added Frank Bibeau, attorney for the White Earth reservation. “We will endeavor to persevere.
“The climate and fossil-fuel directives coming quickly from the new president – plus the rapidly increasing investment in and growth of renewable energy – make it clear the era of carbon-loaded oil pipelines is coming to a close. On January 26, DAPL lost its appeal to overturn a federal ruling to shut that pipeline down. It’s jarring that the Minnesota court did not recognize these executive and judicial developments, or the strong green trends in the market,” said Winona LaDuke, Executive Director and co-founder of Honor the Earth.
“Given the Biden administration’s recent Executive Order to halt the Keystone pipeline -- which is really a twin of the Line 3 tar sands oil pipeline -- we are deeply disappointed in today’s decision not to support an overturn of the stay request from the Red Lake and White Earth tribes and Friends of the Headwaters to halt the rapid and dangerous construction of Line 3 during the Covid-19 pandemic.”
“Line 3 is in court because multiple Native nations, grassroots groups, and the Minnesota Department of Commerce have argued its approval violated state law,” said Andy Pearson, Midwest Tar Sands Coordinator with MN350. “These groups deserve their day to be heard. It’s time for President Biden to stop Line 3 like he stopped Keystone XL. Any further delay in stopping construction means irreversible harm to more treaty territory and more pieces of pipe in the ground that are fundamentally incompatible with the Paris Climate Accord.”
“We are disappointed that the Court is allowing Enbridge to continue their construction assault on Minnesota’s natural environment, but we will continue our vigorous legal fight against the Line 3 pipeline,” said Richard Smith, president of Friends of the Headwaters.
“This decision is bitterly disappointing. Indigenous leaders, organizers, landowners, and allies have stood on the frontlines for years to fight this pipeline, which would disrupt Minnesota communities, pollute our water, and harm our climate. Now more than ever, it’s up the Biden Administration to cancel this project once and for all,” said Margaret Levin, State Director of the Sierra Club North Star Chapter.
Photo by Keri Pickett
This is a helpful summary of the case and key arguments
Article “MN Court of Appeals rejects stay in Line 3 construction”
February 3, 2021 By healingmn
Red Lake, White Earth and environmental and Indigenous groups have filed legal challenges to overturn Line 3’s environmental impact statement, Certificate of Need and Route Permit, all approved by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC). Many issues are on the table, from climate change and future oil spills to treaty rights. The Minnesota Department of Commerce has an appeal to reject Line 3’s Certificate of Need because Enbridge failed to prove the pipeline is needed.
The Minnesota Court of Appeals has set oral arguments for March 23. A final decision isn’t expected until June, around the time Line 3 construction would be wrapping up.
The motion for a stay in construction was an effort to prevent the damage that could happen between now and June.
The Court’s decision to reject the stay isn’t an indication of how it will rule on the appeals themselves. The Court is required to give deference to the PUC’s decision. In the end, it concluded the PUC’s decision “is not an abuse of discretion.”
That’s a pretty low bar.
The Court wrote:
The parties before the [PUC] raised significant, competing harms—most notably, on one hand, the harm of continued construction on the environment and the rights of tribes and indigenous peoples, and, on the other hand, the risk of an oil spill due to the rapidly deteriorating condition of existing Line 3.
The Court also dinged Red Lake and White Earth not filing their motions sooner. Yet it’s stunning that the court seemed to dismiss so easily “the rights of tribes and Indigenous people” in its analysis. Treaties are the supreme law of the land.
Here’s an analysis of the key arguments.
Red Lake and White Earth had appealed for a construction delay in part because current construction was doing potentially irreparable environmental harm. Waiting for a decision until June could make their appeals meaningless, they said. The PUC reasoned that the most significant harms from Line 3 would be potential oil spills from the pipeline’s operation. Even if Enbridge finishes construction, the Court could intervene before operations start. Therefore, the Court’s decision wouldn’t be meaningless. - Written by healingmn
What’s next?
Photo: Via @shanai_matteson at the @welcomewaterprotectors center: "Yesterday, near Mississippi and Willow Rivers - Line 3 pipe being buried in open trenches - water being water, rising. This week we should hear response to an official complaint that could lead to a stop on construction until appeals are heard in court this spring.”
Stop the HDD 404 River Crossings Permit.
We still have a lawsuit pending: “White Earth and Red Lake Nations, along with the Sierra Club and Honor the Earth, filed the complaint in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. It seeks to overturn a permit that the Army Corps issued in November that allows Enbridge to discharge dredged and fill material into rivers and streams.”
President Joe Biden can Stop Line 3.
Millions of people across the country applauded when President Biden acted to block the Keystone XL pipeline. He also has the power—and the duty—to stop Line 3: The Biden administration could order the Army Corps of Engineers to enact a stop order of construction immediately, reevaluate and suspend or revoke the Line 3 project’s Clean Water Act Section 404 permit and engage in a comprehensive Federal Environment Impact Statement (EIS) including the impact on indigenous rights with a tribal governments seated at the table .
Rep. Ilhan Omar “Today, I led a letter to President Biden urging him to stop the construction of the Line 3 pipeline. Climate change does not stop at the border of a reservation or a state or a country—it impacts us all. The Biden Administration can and must act to stop Line 3.”
We ask you to continue to sign and share our united coalition petition to President Joe Biden.
We have only 74,371 more until our goal of 204,800 (130,429 Signatures Collected to date).
Join the frontlines:
To learn about ways you can join the frontline resistance, attend an Orientation Call with a coalition of groups in the Stop Line 3 movement. Calls will be on alternating days every week -- Sunday at 10am CT or Tuesday at 7pm CT. RSVP by registering here.
You are also welcome to visit the Water Protector Welcome Center, a frontline camp in Palisade, MN, in prayerful action every day at 10am.
Meanwhile Water Protectors continues resistance to lock down, and stop Enbridge construction.
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