Babaamaajimowinan (Telling of news in different places)
Babaamaajimowinan (Telling of news in different places)
They contend thermal imaging will show potential damage
A closeup showed standing water in the wetlands being held back from the Mississippi River in Clearwater County, where the Line 3 oil pipeline tunneled under the river.
Indigenous opponents of Line 3 are raising money to fly a drone with thermal imaging equipment along the oil pipeline's Minnesota route to see for themselves whether there are more drilling fluid spills or groundwater problems.
Thermal imaging is a new direction for the Indigenous-led Line 3 opposition. It comes as state environmental regulators investigate whether construction crews damaged aquifers at two locations along the Line 3 route, in addition to the major aquifer breach in Clearwater County for which energy company Enbridge has been fined. The state's latest estimates are that the breach has spilled about 50 million gallons of groundwater, up from previous estimates of around 24 million gallons.
"I've ridden the whole line on horseback pretty much, but I never took that bird's eye view," said Winona LaDuke, co-founder of Honor the Earth. "I think it's going to show more damage than anybody knows. It's a crime that's underway."
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