Water Protectors to Greet Enbridge Contractors at Pier B Hotel event in Duluth Tuesday, November 15

Concerned citizens cite Line 3 aquifer breaches, frac-outs, and excessive arrests in Minnesota, and ongoing Line 5 issues faced by the Bad River Tribe in Wisconsin

TUESDAY – NOVEMBER 15 – 4:30 -7:00 P.M.
Pier B Hotel — 800 W Railroad St. Duluth, MN 55802

November 14, 2022

A diverse gathering of Water Protectors wielding puppets, songs and signs is expected to greet those attending a special Enbridge contractors event sponsored by a leading Line 3 contractor, Gordon Construction (a Native American company in northern Minnesota). 

Besides celebrating Line 3, the dinner event is also allegedly being promoted to attract Indigenous workers to build the re-route of Enbridge’s Line 5 in northern Wisconsin, again through Native lands and waters.

Water Protectors will air grievances over the construction of Line 3, including at least 3 aquifer breaches, numerous frac-outs of drilling fluids in the Mississippi River Headwaters, the excessive and unnecessary arrests of more than 1,000 people opposed to Line 3 in 2021 and the ongoing Line 5 issues faced by the Bad River tribe in Northern Wisconsin.

The tribe wants Line 5 out of its watershed entirely.

“The Bad River Band of Ojibwe has demanded Enbridge remove its pipeline, operated illegally since 2013, from their reservation and the Mashkiiziibii (Bad River) watershed. Enbridge wants to rebuild 40 miles of Line 5 upstream of Mashkiiziibii, in the aquifer recharge zone and headwaters above the most productive wild rice beds on Earth,” notes Deb Topping, one of the Indigenous organizers of the event with the RISE coalition. 

Added Allen Richardson, an organizer with Honor the Earth, “Enbridge was responsible for 28 frac-outs and 3 aquifer breaches along Line 3 and was recently fined for criminal charges brought by the Minnesota Attorney General  and two state agencies. We will come together in solidarity with Bad River, for a just climate transition with permanent, family-supporting jobs that protect the water instead of temporary pipeline jobs for a criminal enterprise that has regularly threatened treaty-protected cultural resources in the Great Lakes region.”

CONTACT:

ON THE GROUND IN DULUTH: Allen Richardson 218-235-4389 (Honor the Earth), or  Deb Topping (RISE Coalition), 218-721-2748

OR

Martin Keller, Media Savant Communications, 612-220-6515, mkeller@mediasavantcom.com