HONOR THE EARTH For Immediate Release

May 28, 2016 

EPA Sends Strong Message to Minnesota Regarding Sandpiper/Line 3

This past Friday, the US Environmental Protection Agency Region V sent strong recommendations to Minnesota on the scoping for the state environmental impact statement on the Sandpiper and Line Three.  The EPA called for much more stringent and exhaustive reviews that the state is anticipated to undertake. The Agency’s comments were in addition to hundreds of comments submitted by Minnesotans and Anishinaabeg regarding the process. 

Despite billions of dollars of investment in the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to carry out environmental stewardship duties, the State of Minnesota insists on having the Department of Commerce do the environmental review for the largest fossil fuel infrastructure mega-project in state history.   On May 18 meeting, the Environmental Quality Board voted to deny the people's request to transfer control of the Sandpiper/Line 3 EIS to the environmental agencies.  Read on for more details and to watch the video of the Honor the Earth team (Winona LaDuke, Korey Northrup, Don Wedll, and Thane Maxwell) testifying at that meeting....

Immediate Release May 11, 2016  

CHIPPEWA EXTEND ONE-DAY FISHING PERMIT TO GOVERNOR DAYTON’S SANDY LAKE OPENER 

Sandy Lake, MN – The 1855 Treaty Authority issued a one-day fishing permit and pass for Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton and his members while they spend the 2016 Governor's Fishing Opener on one of the most important, original 1855 Chippewa reservations, Sandy Lake. 

On Monday, August 3, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) issued two orders for Enbridge’s Sandpiper pipeline application – granting the Certificate of Need, which conveys to Enbridge the powers of eminent domain, and commencing the routing permit review process. However, there were conditions. First, the PUC order requires a thorough Comparative Environmental Analysis (CEA), which “shall also include a qualitative as well as quantitative analysis of the environmental impacts of the various route alternatives; and consider the environmental impact of the Sandpiper facility alone and the cumulative impact of both the Sandpiper facility in the Line 3 replacement project.” This is an important shift in regulatory process, as the PUC previously denied the motion by Honor the Earth to combine environmental analysis for Line 3 and Sandpiper.