Line 3: Arrests at Shell River Protest; Enbridge Says Pipeline 70% Complete

More arrests were made Monday a Line 3 protest action near Park Rapids, including the arrest of Winona LaDuke, the executive director of Honor the Earth.

According to a press release from Honor the Earth, about 40 protesters sat together in solidarity at the Shell River near Park Rapids in opposition to the Line 3 pipeline project, which will cross underneath the Shell River. Honor the Earth reports seven women were arrested, including LaDuke.

Meanwhile, Enbridge Energy says their Line 3 oil pipeline project is now more than 70% complete. Enbridge officials say this includes horizontal directional drilling at over a dozen sites.

According to Enbridge, HDD is the preferred construction method for pipelines crossing bodies of water, which involves drilling a tunnel under a designated area and then pulling a pipeline or other utility through. They claim Line 3 is a safety- and maintenance-driven project that will replace an aging pipeline with a safer one made of thicker steel with more advanced coatings.

Gov. Tim Walz is also standing by his support for the project. Walz told Duluth News Tribune during an interview last week, “I think I have a very progressive environmental record, but I’m also a realist, and we need to move oil, and we need to move it safely.” He continued, “So, I said, we are going to replace an aging pipeline because that’s what the law says. [The project has] stood up in court.”

Work has been completed in Canada, North Dakota, and Wisconsin. The project is slated to be finished and in service by the fourth quarter of this year.