Enbridge crews return to Two Inlet Pump Station, begin damage assessment

June 08, 2021

Our crews were able to get back into the Two Inlet Pump Station today, to assess damages and start cleanup. We respect everyone’s right to peacefully and lawfully protest, but trespass, intimidation, and damage to property is unacceptable, and we will seek the full prosecution of all involved.

Yesterday 44 workers were safely evacuated from the site, including ten employees of Native owned contractor Gordon Construction from the White Earth Reservation.  Over 500 native workers are part of the Line 3 workforce. The project is already providing significant economic benefits for counties, small businesses, Native American communities, and union members – including creating 5,200 family-sustaining construction jobs, and millions of dollars in local spending and tax revenues.

Our first priority is the safety of all involved - our workers, men and women in law enforcement and the protestors themselves. It should be noted that protest affected work at just this site, and construction continued yesterday and today across dozens of worksites in the five construction zones that stretch across northern Minnesota.

To date, protests have had little impact on the project’s construction schedule which is on track to be completed and in service in the fourth quarter of this year. Enbridge operations were unaffected.

We hoped all parties would come to accept the outcome of the thorough, science-based review and multiple approvals of the project. Line 3 has passed every test through six years of regulatory and permitting review including 70 public comment meetings, appellate review and reaffirmation of a 13,500-page EIS, four separate reviews by administrative law judges, 320 route modifications in response to stakeholder input, and reviews and approvals from the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (The only Tribe with “Treatment as a State” water quality authority along the pipeline route). In fact the leadership of the two reservations crossed by current Line 3 have repeatedly expressed their support for Line 3’s permits. Many of the groups involved in the Treaty People Gathering were parties to the review process—and, during the past six years, have repeatedly provided input that was heard and acted upon.