Group continues pipeline protests

Local law enforcement and firefighters are keeping busy as protesters continue to disrupt and potentially delay construction of the Enbridge Line 3 replacement pipeline through the Fond du Lac reservation and Carlton County.

Late Monday afternoon, three water protectors were arrested. Two of the protestors — Nicholas Tippins and Joseph Morales — were arrested while blocking the entrance to the site, while the third, Jeff Nichols-Haining, climbed onto a section of the pipeline dangling over a trench. According to a press release from the Water Protectors, Nichols-Haining sat on the pipe for hours to prevent workers from putting the pipe onto frozen sandbags.

On Tuesday, two water protectors — Charles King and Allisha LaBarge — locked themselves to an excavator laying pipe on an Enbridge worksite near Cloquet.

“Our state laws are not working in the public interest and for the public good,” King said in a press release from resistline3.org. “We are endangering future generations … and that’s got to stop.”

The protesters face various charges including trespassing on critical public service facilities, unlawful assembly, obstructing the legal process, refusal to leave upon demand and obstructing ambulance personnel while attempting to provide emergency care.

Enbridge officials say the first priority is the safety of all involved and insist they recognize people’s rights to protest legally and peacefully, but they will seek to prosecute those who endanger others and trespass to the fullest extent of the law.

“Recent actions taken by protestors, like trespassing in active work zones, endanger first responders, Line 3 workers and the protestors themselves,” Enbridge spokesperson Julie Kellner said in an email to the Pine Knot News last week.

In other Line 3 news, on Tuesday the Minnesota Court of Appeals denied a request by the Red Lake and White Earth tribes for a stay of construction for Line 3 while several cases challenging the project work their way through the courts.

In a statement for the press, Enbridge officials stated they are pleased with the decision from the Minnesota Court of Appeals, but not surprised.

“The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) review of the Line 3 Replacement Project was thorough and exhaustive — from the Environmental Impact Statement to the certificate of need and route permit,” Kellner wrote.