700 miles upstream of St. Louis on the Mississippi River, Indigenous-led protest coalitions have been attempting to block the construction of the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline near Bemidji, Minnesota since November of 2020.
On Friday, members of the group of legislators known as “the Squad” travelled to the Stop Line 3 protest camps to lend their support and call on President Biden to halt the pipeline’s construction permanently. If fully constructed, Enbridge Line 3 would carry up to 915,000 barrels of crude oil per day. During construction, the pipeline has already caused some of the environmental destruction that advocates warned against: thousands of gallons of drilling fluid, which is a mix of mud and chemicals used as lubrication for drilling under rivers, have been spilled between June 8 and Aug. 5. Recently, Enbridge officials stated that construction on the pipeline is more than 90% finished.
“This poisoned water isn’t just going to harm communities in Minnesota. St. Louis sits directly downstream on the Mississippi River — with some of our most vulnerable neighbors, mostly communities of color, living right on the banks of that water” Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO)
On Saturday, congresswomen Cori Bush, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Tlaib participated in a roundtable discussion with Anishinaabe leaders regarding the history of treaty violations in the area and the lack of tribal consent to pipeline construction.
As a community that has historically been dependent on the Mississippi for trade, travel, and water, St. Louis is directly affected by the outcome of the Line 3 protests, at which over 800 people have been arrested over the past year.
Rep. Bush said that she will use her positions on multiple House committees to pressure the President on this issue. “This poisoned water isn’t just going to harm communities in Minnesota. St. Louis sits directly downstream on the Mississippi River — with some of our most vulnerable neighbors, mostly communities of color, living right on the banks of that water,” Bush said. “I will not sit back and watch yet another corporation prioritize profits over Black, brown and Indigenous lives. I thank Congresswoman Omar and the Red Lake and White Earth communities for welcoming us into their home this weekend. I strongly urge the Biden administration to put an immediate stop to Line 3, and I vow to use my seat in Congress to protect Indigenous rights, the rights of protesters and our environment.”
“We have been encouraged by Joe Biden’s boldness so far,” Representative Ilhan Omar said, referencing the President’s January decision to cancel a border-crossing permit for the Keystone XL pipeline that would have carried oil from Canada to Nebraska. “Now we have another chance to reject a moving pipeline. We hope you will act.”
Rep. Bush also connected violence against protesters at Line 3 to police violence in Ferguson and in other communities of color. “Police have used torture devices, chemical agents, and low-flying aircraft to assault protesters demonstrating for environmental justice,” she tweeted. Law enforcement has received over $2 million from Enbridge for policing around the pipeline’s construction.
The four congresswomen met with tribal officials from Red Lake Nation and White Earth Nation, as well as representatives from Giniw Collective, Honor the Earth, the RISE Coalition and the Indigenous Environmental Network.
“The water that flows from this point will carry whatever dirty fossil fuels it picks up right on down to my district,” Bush said.