Enbridge Line 3 Hearing on Aug. 18th, 2015 at Rice Lake, MN www.HONOREARTH.org

The stories that are told about where we come from they are gifts of life, for us to have a good life. It is life. We were surrounded by water at one time until we were born into the world just like we are born into water today. Everything the rice grows in it is a circle of life. That is what we need to do to follow that circle of life. Enbridge, will you sit in our communities, where our water is poisoned? Will you drink the water with us? You will not live with us when the poison sets in.

We will not let it happen, Dawn Goodwin at White Earth tribal hearing, Rice Lake, June 4

On August l8, 2015 at 6 pm, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission will hold a meeting on the proposal to put another pipeline near Rice Lake through wild rice territory to carry 760,000+ barrels per day of tar sands oil towards Superior. The fifty year old Enbridge Line 3 is along the H i g hw a y 2 c o r r i d o r, a n d h a s b e e n experiencing many structural problems, including 900 plus anomalies, which have included a number of leaks in Cohasset and Pinewood. As a result of this problem, and something called pipeline fatigue, where there are too many pipelines in one corridor, the company is hoping to secure a new route through the Rice Lake area without consent or consultation of tribes or communities.

Additionally the Koch Brothers, MinnCan line is planning an expansion to 350,000 barrels per day in the same

corridor, near White Earth, although it goes south and does not impact the other lakes in the l855 treaty area. The PUC process is a bit confusing to most of us, and began with hearings about two year ago. The tribal governments were not consulted as the state proposed the pipeline through the l867 and l855 treaty areas. The tribal governments, had asked state officials to hold hearings on the reservations, but the requests were denied. When tribal governments asked for exact information on the pipeline routes, they were also denied, and were told that the information was classified under Critical Energy Infrastructure Information regulations. That is, because of national security, tribes wouldnt be told exactly where the pipelines are supposed to go.. To date, government-to-government consultation required between state agencies and Indian Tribes in accordance with Governor [Mark] Daytons Executive Order l3-l0 have not occurred on this matter, said Mille Lacs Band Chairwoman Melanie Benjamin, nor was there any mechanism for consultation in the [administrative law] hearing process.

While the White Earth band, Honor the Earth and Mille Lacs band, as well as community members continue to be concerned about the pipeline proposals. Additional lines, increase the risk of a spill, there is no regulation to abandon the pipelines, and adding more compression and pipe to a delicate wetland may pose some problems.

The Polaris Institute, a Canadian research organization, reports that 804 spills occurred on Enbridge pipelines between 1999 and 2010, releasing a total of 161,000 barrels of oil into the environment. The worst occurred five years ago, when an Enbridge pipeline ruptured and sent more than a million gallons of diluted bitumen (or dil-bit, which comes from the tar sands mines) flowing into the Kalamazoo River. It was one of the most costly oil spills in US history. A 2012 study sponsored by the US Department of Transportation analyzed PHMSA data and showed that the US experiences several hundred pipeline incidents each year, some of which are catastrophic. The study concluded that the average pipeline, in any given 10-year period, has a 57 percent chance of experiencing a major leak, with damages more than $1 million. That ratio is a bit daunting.

In the meantime, Indigenous people and allies have engaged in strong resistance related to the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline to date has not been approved. At the same time, have stopped the Northern Gateway pipeline, another contentious Enbridge pipeline that was supposed to take tar sands from the mines of Alberta to the coast of British Columbia.

Marjorie Dumont, Chief of the Tsayu Clan of the Wetsuweten Nation explains why her people opposed the Northern Gateway project: The pipeline threatens my livelihood even before it bursts. A lot of the ecosystems are going to be destroyed. I worry about that. I worry about the ancestors who have been buried in our territory. Thats our graveyard and thats our dinner table. Our blood stays pure only so long as our water stays pure.I would be devastated if we were removed from our land. It is who we are. The representatives of Enbridge have [kept coming] here for eight years. Ive sat with them in meetings. Weve told them, No. Its not respectful to keep asking. What part of no do they not understand?

We have the responsibility to protect all beings. We have the compassion for people and for lifeeven what we cant see. The animals and the water..This is something that our ancestors told usthis is always our home. Tania Aubid, Rice Lake

G A N A W E N J I G E D A A M A N O O M I NP R O T E C T T H E R I C E " F R O M E N B R I D G E P I P E L I N E S_________________________

To find out more: please come to the hearing at the Rice Lake Community Center, on August l8, 2015.

Resources:SANDPIPER CERTIFICATE OF NEED IS DECLARATION OF WAR

Mille Lacs and White Earth Bands Fighting Pipelines That Threaten Wild Rice

White Earth Band of Ojibwe and Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe hold public hearings on proposed Enbridge Sandpiper and Line 3 Pipelines

Line 3 Abandonment Fact SheetEnbridge Line 3 was placed in by the Lakehead Pipeline Company in l96l and continues to experience significant structural integrity problems. Latest public estimates by the Enbridge Company indicate over 900 integrity anomalies in the pipeline, which spans over 300 miles of northern Minnesota, crossing part of the Red Lake, Leech Lake and Fond du Lac reservations and the l855 and l842 treaty areas.

Enbridge has gathered extensive integrity data on Line 3 throughout its years of operation. The integrity data shows a high number of integrity anomalies specifically, corrosion and long seam cracking. Because of its integrity anomalies, Line 3 has experienced a number of failures during

its more than 50-year history. As a result, Line 3 requires a high level of integrity monitoring and an extensive on-going integrity dig and repair program to maintain safe operation of the line. For example, approximately 4,000 integrity digs in the United States alone are currently forecasted for Line 3 over the next 15 years to maintain its current level of operation. This would result in

year-after-year impacts to landowners and the environment, and may result in repeated impacts to the same landowners and environmental features.

If Enbridge is not required to remove the pipeline and restore the damaged ecosystems, there may never be a full accounting of the on-going and future contamination surrounding the pipeline. This contamination would become the responsibility of nearby landowners, if discovered. Additionally, Enbridge has stated they plan to fill the pipelines with nitrous oxide. This would constitute an underground storage tank according to Minnesota statue Minnesota Statute 103I.681 1

At the state level, there are no abandonment guidelines or definitions for intrastate gas, liquids, or oil pipelines, and there are no abandonment guidelines or definitions for intrastate oil or gas gathering systems. Any mention of abandonment of pipeline procedures follows federal guidelines of disconnecting from active gas service and purging of any hazardous substance .2

Another huge bonus for abandoning a pipeline is reduction of taxes or total elimination

of ad valorem, school, county and other jurisdictional levies. Generally speaking, taxes are almost non existent for abandoned pipelines. But still, if a landowner wants to claim the pipeline on his or her property, the pipeline company will likely claim it is their property and explain that

the pipeline is only idled as opposed to a given up entirely type of abandonment. 3When a pipeline is abandoned, above ground facilities are usually removed, while underground segments of the pipelines may be left in place, or removed- depending on projected land-use. While there is unclear regulations relating to the abandonment of oil pipelines, the Canadian Energy board has a pipeline abandonment guidance document.

1https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=103I.6812http://www.pipelineandgasjournal.com/whoownsabandonedpipelines3http://www.pipelineandgasjournal.com/whoownsabandonedpipelines

From the guidance document 4 Pipeline Corrosion

Corrosion of buried pipelines occurs through an electrochemical reaction that involves the loss of metal in one location (called the anode) through the transfer of the metal ions to another location on the pipeline (called the cathode).

Subsidence:

It should be noted that tolerance to soil subsidence is in itself a site-specific issue, as it depends on land use and the local environmental setting. Any pipeline owner/operator considering the abandonment-in-place of a larger-diameter pipeline should therefore conduct a site specific analysis in order to evaluate both the degree and tolerability of any long-term subsidence that might be expected.Potential soil and groundwater contamination:

The potential sources of contamination were identified as: the substances produced from the reservoir in the hydrocarbon stream and deposited on the walls of the pipeline; treatment chemicals which could enter the pipeline and be deposited; the line pipe and associated facilities; pipeline coatings and their degradation products; historical leaks and spills of product that were not cleaned to current standards; and possible PCB contamination, if PCBs were used in the pump or compressor lubricants at some point in the history of the pipeline.

Operators should also have an understanding of the composition of pipe coatings and their

associated characteristics to assess any potential risk that may be derived from abandoning the pipeline in place.

Creation of water conduits:

The potential to create water conduits as a result of the abandonment process is of concern as it could lead to unnatural drainage and material transport. This issue is primarily of concern when a pipeline is abandoned in place, since water will eventually infiltrate the pipe through perforations in the pipe wall caused by corrosion. Unless water pathways through the pipeline are interrupted, this could lead to the unnatural drainage of areas such as muskegs, sloughs, or marshes, thus affecting the natural balance of the ecosystem. This issue can be related to the concern for contamination and the protection of wetland systems. If water infiltrates the pipeline, the potential exists for that water to carry any residual contaminants left in the abandoned pipeline to some point of exit. The point of exit could be a watercourse, thereby contaminating the watercourse if contaminant levels are sufficiently great in volume and concentration at the point of exit. The possibility of soil contamination may also exist, depending on the nature of the contaminant transported through the pipeline

During Line 3 hearings, abandonment concerns must be raised. This would be a significant concern to the Anishinaabe, and long term jurisdictional issues should be discussed with regards to a limited liability corporation.

4https://docs.nebone.gc.ca/lleng/llisapi.dll/fetch/2000/90463/501473/501488/501198/515103/A1F2Z4__TNS_Tech_Guidelines_on_Abandonment_(r12)_April_10_07_JKK.pdf?_gc_lang=en&nodeid=515104&vernum=0&redirect=3