In the next 2 weeks, MN Dep. Commerce are holding 20 public meetings across northern MN (and St Paul) on the potential environmental and cultural impacts of the proposed Enbridge Line 3 tar sands oil pipeline through the Mississippi headwaters. There are many problems with this pipeline that could spell disaster for Minnesota’s water, land and culture for years to come. Please read about the pipeline and consider attending one of these meetings and testifying.

Some things to know about the project:

- This 36" diameter pipe will run down the center of a 750-foot wide swath across the entire northern part of the state.
- Over 5000 acres of forest will be clear-cut.
- 172 new roads will be built for access to remote sites.
- Three major watersheds will be crossed: the Hudson Bay, the Mississippi, and the Great Lakes. 
- The pipeline will be built in 7 different locations simultaneously.
- So far NO cities or counties have objected, due to increased tax dollars.
- Indigenous people and environmentalists are leading the opposition.
- Over 900,000 barrels of thick tar sands oil will push through each day.
- The Superior terminal does not have enough capacity to store or move that much oil daily.
- The current Line 3 is now "weeping" all along its route, and will be abandoned in the ground for landowners to deal with.
- The route crosses the Headwaters and the world's richest wild rice lakes in the world.
- Enbridge decided on this route with NO input from the state or the tribes.
- Enbridge will not release any emergency or clean-up plans to the public.
- The public hearings in June only happen because of a lawsuit by Friends of the Headwaters.

(thanks to Ellen Zoey Holden Hadley for supplying these bullet points).

For more details on the impact of the pipeline, see:  

StopLine3.org

http://www.mn350.org/line-3-pipeline-public-meetings-june-6-22/

For talking points for those testifying, click here

Here are the meetings:

Tue, June 6: 10-1pm, Bagley.       

                      6-9pm, Grand Rapids

Wed, June 7: 10-1pm, Park Rapids.                                                                                                            

                       6-9pm, Cass Lake

Thu, June 8: 10-1pm, Floodwood.

                      6-9pm, Brainerd

Fri, June 9, 11-2, Wadena

Mon, June 12:  10-1pm, Hinckley

                          6-9pm, McGregor

Tue, June 13: 10-1pm, Fond Du Lac

                       6-9pm, St. Paul – Rally at 5pm – and Dance for Water event nearby – see below

Wed, June 14th: 10-1pm, Staples

                             6-9pm, Little Falls

Thu, June 15th: 10-1pm, Foley

                            6-9pm, Milaca

Fri, June 16th: 10 – 1pm, Mora

Mon, June 20th: 10-1pm, Newfolden

                             6-9pm, Hallock

Tue, June 21st: 10-1pm, Thief River Falls

                           6-9pm, Plummer

Wed, June 22nd: 10-1pm, Gully

                              6-9pm, Bemidji

For more details and to find the meeting nearest you, click here 

Click here for more details on the meetings  

Here is the event page for the Dance for Water event in St Paul