“We need to avert an oil disaster in Lake Superior. We need to save our water and our future.” That was water protector Gina Peltier’s message this summer. Peltier is one of many water protectors in the Midwest organizing against Line 5 tar sands oil…
Vinyl Chloride & Byproducts like Phosgene Risk Damaging Wide Area
St. Paul, MN – During a swearing-in ceremony of the new Dean and President Anthony Niedwiecki at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law on September 23, 2021, water protectors disrupted Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s keynote speech to gauge his support of Line 3.
Stills…
St. Paul, MN – Thousands converged on the Minnesota State Capitol grounds on August 25 to demand that construction on the contentious Line 3 tar sands pipeline be stopped. A massive police response greeted the water protectors who held ceremony, set tipis up and attempted…
Hubbard County, MN – On August 4, 2021, in the first trial prosecuting water protectors since active construction of the Line 3 pipeline in the state, one defendant was acquitted, and the other was found guilty by a jury on two misdemeanors—public nuisance and unlawful…
Northern, MN – Canadian oil giant Enbridge is under investigation by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) for 28 drilling fluid spills at 12 of their river crossings, totaling to more than 10,000 gallons. In a new report released by the MPCA, the agency outlines…
St. Paul, MN – Almost all records held by Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) related to the environmentally harmful Enbridge Line 3 tar sands oil pipeline are classified as secret, according to memos provided to Unicorn Riot as part of a denial of public…
Hubbard County, MN – On the morning of July 23, 2021, Minnesota 9th District Judge Jana M. Austad granted a temporary restraining order prohibiting the Hubbard County Sheriff’s Office from “barricading, obstructing, or otherwise interfering with access to the [Namewag Camp] property”—an Indigenous-led water protector…
Hubbard County, MN – At around 6 a.m. Monday, Hubbard County Sheriff’s deputies delivered a notice to the Namewag Camp, a privately-owned property of water protectors, stating that the sole entrance would not be “open to vehicular traffic per Hubbard County’s Land Use Ordinance.”
“The…
Hubbard and Clearwater Counties, MN – On Monday, June 7, two different direct actions by Indigenous people and climate advocates took over two different work sites in traditional Anishinaabe territory for the Line 3 tar sands pipeline being built by Enbridge, a Canadian multi-national oil…
Northern Minnesota – As summer approaches, and the wet season moratorium is over, construction for the new Line 3 tar sands pipeline is ramping back up during early June. This increase in work was expected by water protectors, who made a call-out for activists to…
Denver, CO – On the 51st anniversary of Earth Day, a local group of Indigenous activists organized a march from the Colorado State Capitol to the Wells Fargo Center in downtown to take action and speak out against the Line 3 tar sands oil pipeline…
Denver, CO – On the 51st anniversary of Earth Day, water protectors and activists gathered at the Colorado State Capitol to shine light on the Line 3 pipeline currently being built by Enbridge in northern Minnesota.
Since 2014, Canadian energy giant Enbridge has pushed to…
Minneapolis, MN – Attorneys for multiple Indigenous tribes, environmental and Indigenous rights groups, and the Minnesota Department of Commerce made oral arguments on Tuesday, March 23, against the Line 3 pipeline approvals by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission.
The Commission approved the second-to-last permit needed…
Carlton County, MN – On Friday, February 19, a family-friendly caravan disrupted traffic at several Line 3 construction routes. During the event, authorities announced a baseless bomb threat via FEMA’s Wireless Emergency Alerts system. The Carlton County Sheriff’s Office also made unsubstantiated connections between the…
White Earth Reservation, MN – On February 20, 2021, the White Earth Camp opened up as an additional Indigenous Women/Femme-led water protector community. On Sunday, February 21, the camp hosted a treaty rights action at a work site where oil giant Enbridge plans to bore…
Grand Rapids, MN – On March 3, 1991, Enbridge’s original Line 3 pipeline had the largest inland oil spill in North America—1.7 million gallons of tar sands crude polluted Prairie River, a tributary of the Mississippi River. To commemorate that tragedy and continue their resistance…
Savanna State Forest, MN – Before sunrise on Wednesday, February 24, three water protectors locked down to blockades on Loon Road. Loon Road is a main Line 3 pipeline construction access corridor connected to more than 12 active work sites.
A water protector named Rose…
Northern Minnesota – On Tuesday morning, approximately thirty water protectors and Line 3 pipeline resisters walked onto a construction work site in Anishinaabe territory; three activists climbed into a section of the pipe and locked themselves together.
“[We] are in solidarity with the Giniw Collective…
Northern MN – Construction on the tar sands pipeline expansion project for Line 3 continues in Anishinaabe territory in below zero temperatures. Enbridge’s contracted companies, like Precision Pipeline, carve out the line’s pathway, fell any trees in the way, and lay the pipe in the…
St. Paul, MN – On February 2, the Minnesota Court of Appeals granted Enbridge the go-ahead to continue construction on the Line 3 pipeline. The ruling denied a lawsuit to stop construction made by the Red Lake Band of Chippewa, the White Earth Band of…
Aitkin County, MN – Direct actions aiming to stop the construction of a new replacement Line 3 oil pipeline have escalated as winter settles in. Since the approval of the contentious Line 3 tar sands pipeline on November 30, 2020, there have been numerous actions,…
Two Inlets, MN – Early Wednesday morning, two people locked themselves to equipment used for Enbridge’s Line 3 tar sands oil pipeline in Northern Minnesota. The action was organized by the Giniw Collective and comes days after various permits were granted in the State of…
Clearbrook, MN – On Indigenous People’s Day 2019, a coalition of climate activists marched to the Enbridge tar sands pipeline terminal located in Clearbrook, Minnesota. The Ginew Collective of indigenous women organized the peaceful march down 470th Street to tell Enbridge, the owner of the…
Duluth, MN – Hundreds are gathering today along the shores of Lake Superior. The Gichi-gami (“Lake Superior” in Ojibwe) Gathering‘s goal is to bring together opponents of the Line 3 oil pipeline to express their ongoing opposition to the tar sands pipeline project.
Opponents of…
Near Park Rapids, MN – On Monday, June 3, 2019 three water protectors shut down work on power lines along the proposed Enbridge Line 3 tar sands oil pipeline by locking themselves to construction equipment. The same day, the Certificate of Need and Routing Permit…
MINNESOTA – Unicorn Riot has uncovered documents revealing the creation of a task force stockpiling equipment and training police in preparation for Line 3 pipeline protests across the state. The documents show coordination between various law enforcement agencies from states across the region including Minnesota,…
Itasca County, Minnesota – Today four people calling themselves the “Four Necessity Valve turners” shut down Enbridge’s Line 3 and Line 4 tar sands oil pipelines in Minnesota citing “imminent and irreversible damage being done to the planet.” The activists entered pipeline service locations and…
Minneapolis, MN – Hundreds came out to the Cedar Cultural Center to support the resistance to Enbridge’s Line 3 Replacement Pipeline on Friday, December 21. Immortal Technique headlined a set list comprised of water protectors, rappers, and artists who work with and give back to…
Minnesota – Unicorn Riot has uncovered documents showing coordination between state-wide authorities to prepare for anti-pipeline protests. Emails obtained from Minnesota State Patrol under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act show close cooperation between state and local law enforcement, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety,…