Minnesota troopers on Friday removed some demonstrators protesting Enbridge Energy's Line 3 replacement pipeline project on the lawn of the state Capitol.
Videos posted on social media showed troopers carrying protesters onto a bus as dozens of law enforcement officers surrounded a small remnant of the 1,000 or more protesters who had gathered for a major rally calling on Democratic Gov. Tim Walz and President Joe Biden to pull permits and shut down the replacement pipeline project. Officers announced over a loudspeaker that the protesters' permit had expired Thursday night and refusal to leave would result in arrests.
Indigenous and environmental activists who oppose the pipeline argue the project violates Native American treaty rights and will aggravate climate change and risk spills that would contaminate areas where Indigenous people hunt, fish and gather wild rice.
Line 3 starts in Alberta and clips a corner of North Dakota before crossing northern Minnesota en route to Enbridge’s terminal in Superior, Wisconsin. The 337-mile (542.35-kilometer) segment in Minnesota is the last phase in replacing the deteriorating pipeline that was built in the 1960s. Construction began in December.
