The site near LaSalle Creek in Hubbard County is one of three places where crews installing the Enbridge-owned pipeline last year caused uncontrolled flows of groundwater.
"Despite attempts by people like Winona LaDuke to try to confuse, mislead or misrepresent, reality is something that thankfully cannot be ignored," says Thief River Falls Mayor Brian Holmer.
Roughly a thousand people were arrested during those actions. Some were charged with relatively serious crimes, including gross misdemeanors and felonies.
Oil has been flowing through the completed pipeline for months now, but the White Earth Band of Ojibwe — Minnesota's largest Native American tribe with about 20,000 members — continues fighting the project in court, and through extraordinary surveillance efforts.
State regulators ordered Enbridge to stop the groundwater flows and restore the sites. The company already has paid more than $3 million for the violations, and could face additional penalties.
Over the course of construction, around 900 people were arrested during protests. Many are still facing charges ranging from trespassing, a misdemeanor, to felony theft.
The Herald and others in the company have posted numerous pieces about Line 3, originating from our own reporters, from our opinion writers, from companies with whom we have content-sharing agreements and from oh-so-many letter-writers.
As reported earlier this week by Forum News Service, the Minnesota segment is the last portion of the 1,000-mile line that stretches from Alberta, Canada, to Superior, Wisconsin. It is expected to transport nearly 32 million gallons of oil per day.
