Enbridge blamed for fourth breach of Minnesota aquifer during pipeline overhaul

Daniel J. Graeber
·2 min read
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A citizen group in Minnesota said surface-water temperatures like this are indicative of a breach of an underground aquifer. State regulators suggest this may be the fourth time that construction of an Enbridge pipeline created such issue. Photo courtesy of Those Who Help Beaver
A citizen group in Minnesota said surface-water temperatures like this are indicative of a breach of an underground aquifer. State regulators suggest this may be the fourth time that construction of an Enbridge pipeline created such issue. Photo courtesy of Those Who Help Beaver

July 28 (UPI) -- For the fourth time, construction for the expansion of the Line 3 oil pipeline operated by Canadian company Enbridge has led to a rupture of an aquifer in Minnesota, a state agency confirmed Friday.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources in a statement to local Fox 9 news confirmed the breach in a "remote and hydraulically complex site" in the north of the state, near Swatara in Aitkin County.

Extending from Canadian oil fields, Enbridge is working to replace some 360 miles of pipeline along the Line 3 corridor stretching from North Dakota to Wisconsin. The company said the project is "essential" for feeding the refineries in the region.

While the overhaul of the project was under review by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission in 2017, the Sierra Club and its supporters said the regulator had expressed concerns about a final environmental impact statement, but did not go far enough in addressing those issues.

The fourth aquifer breach was identified through thermal imaging and onsite testing from citizen scientist group Waadookawaad Amikwag, or Those Who Help Beaver. A photo taken by the group shows surface water reading 46 degrees Fahrenheit, which they say is indicative of a breach in the underground aquifer.

Canadian energy company Enbridge is working to replace around 360 miles of its Line 3 crude oil pipeline, a pipeline that's been the subject of environmental concern since before the pandemic. Map courtesy of Enbridge
Canadian energy company Enbridge is working to replace around 360 miles of its Line 3 crude oil pipeline, a pipeline that's been the subject of environmental concern since before the pandemic. Map courtesy of Enbridge

"We want to make sure that our communities are safe, that if the water has been disturbed and it needs to be restored... if it can't be restored, they need to be accepting responsibility for it in perpetuity," group geologist Jeffrey Broberg told Fox 9.

Enbridge has faced stiff opposition to its pipeline network in the past. Some Michigan residents are concerned about one of its pipelines running between Michigan's two peninsulas, while a leak in 2010 in the Line 6 artery in lower Michigan was the worst inland spill in U.S. history.

Juli Kellner, a spokesperson for the energy company, was quoted by The Star Tribune as saying that Enbridge will address the issue as soon as its plans are approved.

Aquifer breaches, she added, have nothing to do with the pipeline itself but instead relate to the sheet-metal pilings that are anchored to the ground to reinforce construction sites.

Laura Triplett, another geologist working with the citizen group, said the legacy of Enbridge poses a "reckless endangerment" to Minnesota's environment nevertheless

"They did this all over the state," she said.