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Advocates Attend St. Paul Hearing on Sandpiper/Line 3 Corridor

St. Paul, MN – This Monday, the Minnesota Department of Commerce will hold one in a series of hearings to gather public input on the scope of the Environmental Impact Statement that the state is about to begin on the proposed new Sandpiper/Line 3 pipeline corridor through northern Minnesota.

Environmental advocates and representatives from local Tribal communities will attend Monday’s hearing to express opposition to this deeply flawed review process and demand a robust environmental review for this project.

WHAT: Advocates Attend St. Paul Hearing on Sandpiper/Line 3 Corridor

WHEN: Monday, May 9, 6-9pm

WHERE: Saint Paul RiverCentre 175 West Kellogg Boulevard Saint Paul, MN 55102

Prominent activist Emma Lockridge will be flying in from Detroit to testify at the hearing about the impacts the Marathon oil refinery is having on her community, the Boynton neighborhood, which is the most polluted zip code in Michigan. Marathon is a 30% owner in the Sandpiper project and Lockridge and her neighbors recently filed a class action lawsuit after years of unsuccessfully asking Marathon to buy their homes.

Lockridge, Honor the Earth Executive Director Winona LaDuke, and other local advocates and experts will be at the hearing early and will be available for comment on Line 3/Sandpiper, their potential impacts, and the contested regulatory process.

“An honest and responsible EIS would acknowledge that these pipelines come with enormous social and ecological costs, not only for Minnesota, but also for communities far beyond our state boundaries,” said Winona LaDuke, Executive Director of Honor the Earth. “The State of Minnesota should coordinate with other states, tribes, and federal agencies to assess impacts from well to wheels.”

“It is critical to have a thorough and robust Environmental Impact Statement that explores all of the risks associated with these projects - risks to our land, our pristine water, communities throughout our state, and our climate,” said Abbie Plouff, Sierra Club North Star Chapter, Beyond Oil and Tar Sands Committee Chair. “We are having scoping hearings today because citizens demanded that legal procedures be followed and we will continue to demand that agencies follow the rules and do this right.”

“It is crucial for young people to attend these scoping meetings and provide input on the proposed pipeline projects to ensure a robust and equitable environmental impact statement that considers alternatives to the current pipeline route that would not pass Minnesota's pristine lakes and rivers,” said Mahyar Sorour, Campus Organizer with Minnesota Public Interest Research Group. “Young people are the future of the climate justice movement and should not stand by and allow corporations to decide the future of the drinking water in their state.”

“Enbridge's existing pipelines have already leaked over two million gallons of oil in Minnesota,” said Kathy Hollander, MN350's tar sands team leader. “Recent large spills in South and North Dakota have shown leak detection systems cannot detect certain leaks. We need a full environmental impact statement to analyze the additional risks to Minnesota given the possibility of a new pipeline corridor across some of Minnesota's most pristine waters.”

 

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