ST PAUL, Minn. — Opponents of the Enbridge Line 3 project converged on the State Capitol Thursday to pressure Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan to block the controversial pipeline project.
The coalition of environmental groups contend Minnesotans can do without the Canadian oil that would flow through that replacement pipeline, and that it would be best for the environment to leave that petroleum in the ground.
They marched into the Capitol and delivered petitions bearing 17,000 signatures from people who live in more than 400 communities across Minnesota.
One by one, they handed envelopes to a Walz staff member and explained why they were there.
"I want the governor’s office to understand the gravity of the situation," Ethan Nuss, who described himself as a water protector, told the governor's staff member.
He talked about the level of confrontations between protesters of armed law enforcement at the Standing Rock protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline.
"I just wanted to impart the seriousness of the choice that the governor’s office has, to not be another North Dakota."
Some demonstrators said they assumed that in Flanagan, as a native American lieutenant governor, would speak out against the pipeline.
"I had hoped that Peggy would’ve been that tribal voice at the level where people listen," Mysti Babineau told KARE.
"I can scream until I’m blue in the face day after day, only the people on the sidewalk are going to hear me."
The proposed Line 3 route in northern Minnesota goes around tribal communities, but would still cross through areas where tribes were granted treaty rights to gather wild rice.
Supporters of the project say those who live closest to the path of the pipeline support it because of the construction jobs and spin off economic effects.
"The people that live there want this project, they want the jobs and they want the economic benefits," said Jason George of the Operating Engineers Union Local 49
He said it's not members of his union that will benefit but businesses in smaller cities and towns. George also cited the property taxes Enbridge will pay in those areas.
"All of the elected officials along the route of the project support the project, and the people that live there do too, and I think that’s largely missed when folks from the Twin Cities go to the Capitol."
It puts Gov. Walz in a squeeze between two traditional Democratic allies -- environmentalists and labor unions. Republicans are prepared to pounce if the DFL governor stands in the way of Line 3.
Walz has said repeatedly he wants to make sure the process is followed to the tee, without any shortcuts in the environmental reviews required for all the state and federal permits the project must have to proceed.
The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission signed off on the Enbridge project in 2018 after a lengthy review and public comment process. But the Minnesota Court of Appeals this week ordered that agency to take a deeper look at the potential environmental impact on the Lake Superior watershed.
Enbridge Inc. issued the following statement in response to Thursday's process:
"While we respect the rights of others to express their views on the energy we all use, the replacement of Line 3 is a safety and maintenance focused $2.6 billion private investment in Minnesota’s critical energy infrastructure.
"Minnesotans consume nearly 13 million gallons of petroleum products every day, and crude oil delivered from Line 3 helps meet those energy needs."