horizontal directional drilling

*Mississippi River pollution, as reported by water protectors following conclusion of horizontal drilling near the headwaters*

In a pair of Aug. 9 tweets, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) shared its summary of the harm caused (so far) by Enbridge as crews drilled beneath our waterways to construct the Line 3 tar sands oil pipeline. Below, we offer some context for these numbers, and why Minnesotans should be alarmed.

There was one release into a river. There were 13 inadvertent releases into a wetland, which is not allowed under our 401 certification. There were 14 additional inadvertent releases in non-surface water areas, although one of these releases flowed into a wetland.
— Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (@MnPCA) August 9, 2021

Continue reading “MPCA: Enbridge Polluted Water at 63% of Horizontal Drilling Locations”

*Daggett Brook (Cass County), one of the waterways threatened by horizontal drilling (as photographed by a Watch the Line volunteer monitor*)

As we’ve previously written, of the more than 200 waterways that Line 3 will have to cross through northern Minnesota, Enbridge will be tunneling underneath 21 of them using a process called Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD).

As there has already been one documented frac-out at the Willow River HDD crossing (July 6), it is critical that we keep our eyes on these locations. Below, we have compiled some resources–including a new training video–to prepare volunteers for monitoring HDD locations.

Continue reading “Focusing on Horizontal Directional Drilling”