Every few days, Jaike Spotted-Wolf walks over to a well near Camp Migizi to refill several five-gallon water containers. At the camp, where Spotted-Wolf is one of several matriarchs, there is no plumbing, no pipes and no faucets. Residents take turns getting water, which they need for basics such as cooking and showers.
The camp was — and is — one of several resistance camps formed to oppose Enbridge’s now-completed Line 3 project, which replaced a corroding oil pipeline built in the 1960s with a new, larger pipeline. The pipeline runs through northern Minnesota to Superior, Wisconsin. Nearly a month and a half after oil-laden tar sands began flowing through the pipes, activists are still living at Camp Migizi and other sites.
Temperatures are already below freezing up in Cloquet, where Camp Migizi is located. And on this particular trip to collect water, Spotted-Wolf is greeted by a rare supporter. “I hope you get running water!” the woman shouts, taking Spotted-Wolf by surprise.
That small sign of support meant a lot to Spotted-Wolf, who says the camp and its residents are treated as something of a nuisance by many of the residents of the surrounding area, which is on the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa reservation. Fond du Lac’s tribal governing body, the Reservation Business Committee, filed an injunction in tribal court to shut down the camp two weeks prior, saying it is an illegal campsite. A judge has yet to rule on that request. Spotted-Wolf claims the campsite is legal because the grounds were bought by Taysha Martineau, the leader of the camp and a member of Fond Du Lac, in early 2021 through crowdsourcing funds.
“We get a lot of vitriol from the community. A lot of people hate us here as a camp and say that we’re troublemakers and that we are disrespectful to the tribes,” Spotted-Wolf said. Spotted-Wolf herself is not affiliated with any of the Ojibwe tribes, but is a member of three other tribes: Mandan, Hidatsu and Sahnish, tribes based in North Dakota.
Yet, despite the pressure from surrounding residents and the difficulty of living outdoors in northern Minnesota’s frigid winter, and the fact that the Line 3 pipeline replacement is complete and running, activists of Camp Migizi are determined to stay. Their purpose? To monitor the pipeline for leaks, and to be ready to respond to the next project that activists see as a threat to clean water.
Looking for leaks
The residents of Camp Migizi call themselves water protectors, a term coined within Indigenous communities to refer to activists who are dedicated to protecting waterways.
Already an aquifer near Clearbrook terminal was ruptured during construction, resulting in Enbridge receiving a $3.3 million fine from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR). In August, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) announced that it is investigating other potential damage that occurred during construction, including 28 drilling fluid spills. The DNR is also investigating whether two other aquifers have been punctured. Enbridge has denied any additional aquifers have been breached and says it is working with the DNR on remediating the Clearbrook breach.
“We’re monitoring that stuff and making sure that’s being documented so that when there is a lawsuit against Enbridge, we can say, here’s our documentation and here’s our proof of how, for one, how we were right and you guys are wrong, but also how much damage has been caused and how much that will impact communities,” said Spotted-Wolf.
Frank Bibeau, tribal attorney for the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, and other Indigenous activists have raised money to for drone equipment and to commission a drone flyover with thermal equipment imaging to capture images of drilling fluid spills and other groundwater contaminants that they believe have gone undetected by MPCA and the DNR. The flyover will be done by a Canadian company, costing approximately $52,000, and requires a government entity, in this case the tribal governing body of White Earth Band, to commission the flight.
Bibeau said imaging from the drones will be used for the band’s “rights of nature” claim, or specifically, “rights of wild rice,” in tribal court, to determine whether the state violated the tribes’ protections of wild rice by issuing Enbridge a water permit for construction. Although the pipeline does not cross into White Earth Band territory, the band argues the water permit issued by DNR contributed to this year’s low water levels and put nearby wild rice beds at risk, thus violating tribal law. Other Ojibwe bands have signed onto an amicus brief in support of White Earth’s suit. Though the suit cannot shut down the pipeline, Bibeau says that it will establish an important precedent for future natural-resources cases.
In September, an appellate court denied the Minnesota DNR’s request to dismiss the case. Oral arguments are set to begin in St. Paul on Dec. 16.
In addition to paying for the cost of the drone flyover of the pipeline, a portion of funds raised by activists will be going to Ron Turney, a water protector and member of the White Earth Band, who has regularly photographed the effects of the pipeline over the past year on the region’s water bodies.
“The state of the river up here is the worst it’s been all year,” Turney said. “The water level is high, so all the chemicals that were draining off are now rising up on the easement and starting to come down the river at a much faster rate. The turbidity levels are so high that you can’t see any more fish in the river downstream.”
Turney said he has been collecting samples of the water for testing and believes the next steps for the movement are to “hold Enbridge accountable for the damage they’ve done and the permit violations they’ve committed.”
Organizing the next fights
Back at Camp Migizi, Spotted-Wolf says the camp has also become a center to organize for other fights against resource extraction, including the proposed Tamarack mining project, a proposed set of mines that would extract nickel, cobalt and copper from sulfide ore bodies in northeastern Minnesota.
“We’re close enough that we could deploy right now and be there or to Wisconsin to help them with that fight if needed to,” Spotted-Wolf said referring to Line 5, another replacement project overseen by Enbridge for a pipeline that runs from Superior, Wisconsin to upper Michigan and has stirred up opposition from several tribes and environmental activists.
“There’s still other causes in Minnesota, near Minnesota and then outside of Minnesota that we’ll be able to continue to pursue in terms of leaving our camp space and going to,” said Spotted-Wolf.
Thanks for reporting on the camp and what the water protectors are thinking about these days. There hasn’t been enough coverage of this movement.
“The state of the river up here is the worst it’s been all year,” Turney said. “The water level is high, so all the chemicals that were draining off are now rising up on the easement and starting to come down the river at a much faster rate. The turbidity levels are so high that you can’t see any more fish in the river downstream.”
I’m all for protecting water, but this seems a bit of an exaggeration. Sight fishing is fairly limited in all of MN and even then is mostly carp.
It would also seem that finding leaks and maintaining the environment along the pipeline path is somewhat important to Enbridge too. Enbridge could show it by offering to fund the drone flights. Despite all that has gone down here, there still are some mutual interests.
Enbridge could pay their fine, too, if they wanted to appear responsible for the aquifer puncture.
Enbridge does not appear to have any intention at all of getting out of the tar sands business, and they had plenty of money to buy a gas terminal in LA to ship LP to Europe and beyond.
The idea of cleaning up their past messes also is simply not profitable.
For example, a corroded old line lying in groundwater where we can’t see it is “good enough” for Enbridge. (apparently)
“Enbridge could pay their fine, too, if they wanted to appear responsible for the aquifer puncture.”
Do we know that they did not? They had judge’s orders to put 2.75 mil in escrow. Did they not do that?
“Enbridge does not appear to have any intention at all of getting out of the tar sands business”
I believe they are in the pipeline business and an ever slimming number of petroleum producers are in the unprofitable tar sands business. The joke is on Enbridge when they have a very safe and secure pipeline and fewer and fewer customers’ for it.
“The idea of cleaning up their past messes also is simply not profitable.”
Line 3 ensures past messes do not reoccur.
Don’t worry, be happy. Encourage the continued growth of cost effective alternative energy that really puts the nail into the tar sands coffin. And the water protectors should consider moving their Winter Camp to Fort MacMurray Alberta where they can protest at the tar sands mines which deserve it…
As of today, I have found no reporting that says Enbridge has actually paid their MN fine. They have paid their EPA fines from 5 years ago https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/enbridge-clean-water-act-settlement
The aquifer damage (releasing 25 million gallons of groundwater under pressure) was reported as being referred to the county for criminal investigation. The story dies back in September(?).
Yes, Edward, we might as well give up. If I had the old Line 3 running through my tribal or private lands, I would not want to hire Enbridge to remove it. I would want to hire a competent outfit who would do the work at my request and have Enbridge cough up the cash. Most people would want the cleanup done to their standards, I assume…
Regarding the rental of pipeline space, Enbridge has tried through Canadian courts to alter their business plan, to increase capacity and customers.
The climate problem remains with just one variable– TIME. We can lengthen or shorten the time we have to keep a habitable planet. That’s pretty serious to our grandchildren and affects sustainable life itself.
I guess i know it is hopeless. Should I stop complaining?
Absolutely not.
Complain about a tax and economic policy that fails to reward elements that accomplish things recognized as needed over those things that are not. CNN had an interesting special on China’s Xi that lays out the 2 ends of his power: a brutal repressive dictator doing violence to his people and a powerful, smart autocrat that unilaterally decides on an industrial policy that accomplishes the things we endlessly fight over: dominance in chips, batteries, solar energy, EV, etc… We can’t “pick winners” or “act like socialists” to win the energy future. These kinds of things will make the tar sands site a clean up project and Line 3 a little used artifact of an old economy.
A green energy future wins when green energy options offer more for less than their fossil fuel alternatives. And the first fossil fuel to die will be the tar sands.
“The idea of cleaning up their past messes also is simply not profitable.
For example, a corroded old line lying in groundwater where we can’t see it is “good enough” for Enbridge. (apparently)”
It’s not Enbridge’s choice. The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission ordered that each landowner has the right to choose to keep the pipeline in place or have Enbridge remove it.
Why would the line being completed make a difference? Facts have never mattered to these people. This isn’t serious environmental advocacy.
The article pretty clearly explained, in the activists’ own words and through descriptions of their plans and activities, why they feel it’s important to remain on site, despite the completion of the pipeline. Maybe it’s just me, but wintering in a camp with no plumbing as a water protector seems a lot more serious than firing off judgment and snark in a comment section online.
“wintering in a camp with no plumbing as a water protector seems a lot more serious”
Serious about what? About camping?
At best, what they are doing is a complete waste of time. At worst, this kind of deadender nonsense marginalizes and undermines meaningful environmentalism. These people are useful clowns for the right wingers.
So, writing snarky comments is actually more productive. Doing nothing is more productive.
But my comment wasn’t snarky. These people are like the Qanon people on the right. Facts don’t matter to them. Reality isn’t important. The project is done, but they are going to camp out anyway and pretend they are helping.
Laying down in front of a bulldozer outside Fort MacMurray would really show commitment to the cause.
For the nostalgic:
http://www.timberjay.com/stories/little-alfie-20-years-later,14176
“wintering in a camp with no plumbing ”
So where does the urine and feces go?
Fine facilities at the McDonalds in Cloquet…
Once the line is operating, every day is an accident waiting to happen. Operators cannot be trusted to self report – they profit by coverup and denial. State inspection is never going to properly funded, when it should be fully funded by the operator. That means citizen monitoring for leaks and other damage is important work. I don’t see why living in a camp is required, but to get the polluter to pay for cleanup means vigilance, the right laws and tough enforcement.
“Once the line is operating, every day is an accident waiting to happen. Operators cannot be trusted to self report – they profit by coverup and denial.”
They profit from oil entering the line at one end and the same amount of oil exiting at the other end. There is no profit from rampant unchecked leaks: The mutual interests I described earlier. Thorough and regular drone overflights of the line is in everyone’s interests. Reporting on Enbridge’s views on drone inspection would be helpful: If yes, great, if no, why not?
“but to get the polluter to pay for cleanup means vigilance, the right laws and tough enforcement”
Absolutely. Agree 100 percent.
“I don’t see why living in a camp is required”
And that’s the whole point. Line 3 covers 337 miles in Minnesota. These people are just clowns.