DNR Fines Enbridge $3.32 Million for Failure to Follow Environmental Laws

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has ordered Enbridge Energy to pay $3.32 million for failure to follow environmental laws.

According to a release from the DNR, Enbridge breached the confining layer of an artesian aquifer, resulting in an unauthorized groundwater appropriation during the construction of the Line 3 project near Enbridge’s Clearbrook terminal. The DNR’s civil enforcement orders require Enbridge to pay mitigation and penalty funds of $3.32 million.

The DNR’s restoration order also requires Enbridge to implement a restoration plan to stop the unauthorized groundwater flow within 30 days.

Separately, the DNR has also referred this matter to the Clearwater County Attorney for criminal prosecution. The DNR has determined that Enbridge Energy violated a Minnesota statue which makes it a crime to appropriate “waters of the state without previously obtaining a permit from the commissioner.” The criminal referral and civil enforcement orders resulted from an investigation of Line 3 construction activities near Enbridge’s Clearbrook terminal.

Juli Kellner, a communications specialist for Enbridge, tells Lakeland News that Enbridge just received communication from the DNR and are in the process of reviewing the document. She says, “Enbridge has been working with the DNR since June to provide the required site information and approval of a corrective action plan which is currently being implemented. We share a strong desire to protect Minnesota waters and the environment and we are committed to restoration.”

In response to the DNR’s release, Honor the Earth’s Winona LaDuke also put out a statement, claiming “Enbridge is a rogue corporation that caused the largest inland oil spill in US history and has now damaged Minnesota’s most precious waters during construction of the Line 3 tar sands pipeline. The Biden Administration would only be doing its basic due diligence by finally requiring a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) before any oil goes in this hurriedly-constructed new pipeline. Minnesota’s statewide leaders like Governor Walz and Senators Smith and Klobuchar should mitigate the damage already done to our water— and protect our shared climate —by asking the U.S. Army Corps for a full EIS before more tar sands crude oil flows.”