Groups Opposed to Line 3 Calling on Biden to Cancel Pipeline

Indigenous, environmental, and allied activists continue to call on President Biden to put a stop to construction on the Enbridge Line 3 oil pipeline project. The group held a press call on Wednesday to follow up on a letter that was sent to the Biden Administration.

The letter from those opposed to the pipeline says that construction cuts through treaty territory where Ojibwe people hold rights to hunt, fish, and gather. It also states that the pipeline is located in watershed of many wild rice waters, a sacred and economic resource for Ojibwe people.

According to a release from Treaty People Gathering, Anishinaabe tribes and allied groups have been resisting construction of Line 3 across Minnesota since it was proposed in 2014. Since construction began in December of last year, over 250 people have already been arrested.

“People who have been arrested, we have been thrown into kennels, we’ve been shackled, we’ve been strip searched all for misdemeanor charges and now they’ve started to up it to felony charges for doing nothing more than protecting the land and the water,” said Tara Houska, founder of activist group Giniw Collective. “We are not trespassing, Enbridge is trespassing.”

Some police reports have claimed that some protests have become violent. A recent press release from Hubbard County Sheriff Corey Aukes said on July 1, protesters attacked an Enbridge worker and attempted to run over one of their officers with a vehicle.

Regarding the letter from Indigenous and environmental groups, a statement from Enbridge spokesperson Juli Kellner states, “This letter unfortunately contains inaccuracies, beginning with the fact that the replacement of Line 3 is not an expansion, this project will restore the pipeline’s original design capacity.” It goes on to say, “The letter also ignores that both the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe and the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa have spoken and written in support of project permits.”

The Biden Administration has not indicated it has any plans to cancel federal permits for the Line 3 project.