Cloquet, MN – Unicorn Riot was live from a rally in below freezing temperatures against Enbridge’s Line 3 pipe yards in northern Minnesota on Monday, December 11, which local indigenous-led resistance is claiming are illegal.

Rally Against Line 3 Minnesota Pipe Yards from Unicorn Riot on Vimeo.

Watch our live coverage of the event below:

Most or all of the pipe has already been purchased by Enbridge from the dead Sandpiper pipeline project, and is presently being stored in multiple pipe yards spread out over 1854 and 1855 treaty areas.

The Line 3 project, which would cut through dozens of wild rice growing areas used by indigenous Anishinaabe people, has not yet had completed any environmental review of the project, leading opponents of the pipeline to protest that Enbridge is storing its pipe without valid permits.

Those in opposition to the proposed Enbridge project assert that three sets of state laws have been violated: the 2013 Construction Stormwater General Permit; the Minnesota Environmental Policy Act (MEPA), which mandates the completion of environmental reviews; and Minnesota Administrative Rules 4410.0200 and 4410.3100.

Without a completed environmental review, any Construction Stormwater Permits issued to Enbridge by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) would be invalid, per the MEPA. Additionally, MPCA attorney Jean Coleman is quoted as saying “It is both the law, and agency [MPCA] practice, that permits are not issued for projects or activities prior to the completion of environmental review” in a pamphlet issued by Makwa Initiative water protectors pamphlet.

During the event on Monday, over a hundred people marched from Enbridge’s Line 3 pipe yard to Enbridge’s Sandpiper pipe yard.

Tara Houska spoke about the proposed Line 3 Replacement Project [L3RP]:

“It [Line 3] wants to cross through the headwaters of the Missisippi River to the shore of the shore of Lake Superior, that’s a fifth of the worlds fresh water.” – Tara Hrouska

Listen to Tara speak more in the video below:

The rally-turned-march lasted for three hours in wind chills that peaked at 0 degrees. After the crowd reached Enbridge’s Sandpiper pipe yard, Tara spoke about how the pipes for the never permitted Sandpiper were now being sold for a different pipeline in a different place.

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Unicorn Riot's Line 3 Oil Pipeline Coverage:

• Direct Action Ramps Up Resistance to Line 3 - Sept. 18, 2017
• Resistance to Line 3 Pipeline Seeks to Save Sacred Manoomin - Oct. 9, 2017
• Rally Against Line 3 Minnesota Pipe Yards - Dec. 11, 2017
• Minnesota Public Utilities Commission Requests Line 3 Schedule Change - Jan. 10, 2018
• Interfaith Community Delivers Letter of Line 3 Opposition to Minnesota Government Offices - June 4, 2018
• As Line 3 Oil Pipeline Decision Looms, Indigenous Resistance Increases - June 26, 2018
• Line 3 Oil Pipeline Approved By Minnesota Regulators - June 28, 2018
• Judge Accepts Water Protectors’ Climate Change Necessity Defense - July 18, 2018
• Minnesota Police Train at Military Base as Line 3 Pipeline Protests Escalate - Oct 25, 2018
• Arts, Culture, and Hip Hop Resist Line 3 as Lawsuits Against Approval Continue - Dec 29, 2018
• ‘Valve Turners’ Shut Down Enbridge Oil Pipelines in Minnesota - Feb 4, 2019
• Multi-Agency Task Force Prepares “Rules of Engagement” For Line 3 Protests - Feb 11, 2019
• Direct Action in Minnesota as Line 3 Pipeline Approval Reversed - June 3, 2019
• Hundreds Rally in Opposition to Line 3 Tar Sands Pipeline in Minnesota
• March to Protect The Sacred on Indigenous People’s Day 2019 - Oct 14, 2019
• “Divest from Climate Change!” Chase Bank Branch Protested on Opening Day - Nov 7, 2019
• Protests After Permits for Line 3 Oil Pipeline Approved - Nov 17, 2020
• Enbridge Line 3 Construction Blocked by Activists in Northern Minnesota - Nov 18, 2020