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.
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.
On Wednesday, the Canada-based company Enbridge announced Line 3 would be in service starting Friday, Oct. 1. Pipeline proponents and opponents both made statements in response to the news.
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar is making her final pitch to President Joe Biden to revoke the permits for Enbridge's Line 3 pipeline replacement project, set to begin moving oil as soon as this year.
Enbridge gave an update on the construction process of its Line 3 replacement project during a virtual project update on Wednesday. During the meeting, officials said construction is near completion, but work will continue into next year.
The Safest Way Tour to promote Enbridge's Line 3 pipeline replacement project came to a close in Bemidji as the work nears completion. The tour stop event was held at LaValley Industries.
The pipe itself was capped at one end, which created a trapped air environment for the two people who had climbed inside. The trapped air inside the pipe was estimated to be near 130 degrees with reduced oxygen concentration.
Protesters brought concerns over the water extraction occurring along the construction project at a time where the region has entered a severe drought stage and river levels have dropped to minimal flows in areas of northern Minnesota.
As Enbridge continues building the replacement Line 3 pipeline along a new, 340-mile route across northern Minnesota, there have been some tense standoffs between Line 3 opponents and law enforcement.
