MOOSE LAKE—A fourth aquifer breach along Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline is under investigation by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
The DNR announced on July 27 that the agency is “investigating Line 3-related construction impacts near Moose Lake.”
The breach is in a remote and “hydraulically complex” site near Swatara in Aitkin County.
The groundwater flow at the surface is estimated between 10 to 15 gallons per minute, which is considerably lower than other breach sites.
Breaches identified at the Clearbrook Terminal in Clearwater County, LaSalle Creek in Hubbard County, and Mile Post 1102.5 in St. Louis County were observed at between 100 to 300 gallons of groundwater flowing into the surface per minute.
As of October 2022, the repairs made the previous April at the St. Louis county site eliminated the uncontrolled groundwater flow. Repairs at LaSalle Creek lowered the uncontrolled flow to 20 gallons per minute and the Clearbrook flow to less than one gallon per minute.
Prior to the repairs, those three aquifer breaches resulted in the unauthorized use of more than 300 million gallons of groundwater.
Previous DNR actions—and investigations with other agencies such as the Fond du Lac Band and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency—have resulted in more than $11 million in payments, environmental projects and financial assurances from Enbridge.
Aquifer breaches caused by constructions are classified by the DNR as “unauthorized groundwater appropriations.”
DNR spokesperson Gail Nosek said Enbridge submitted their plan for corrective action on Monday, July 31, which is currently under review by the DNR and MPCA.
Enbridge began work on the Line 3 project in Minnesota during December 2020, carving a path through Northern Minnesota along a new route to a refinery in Superior, Wisc.
Throughout the construction process, completed in November 2021, opponents to the tar sands pipeline demonstrated their dissent with direct action.
The pipeline route runs through land which was ceded by some Ojibwe bands to the U.S. in the 19th century, under the condition that tribal members are guaranteed the right to hunt, fish and gather on those lands.
Dozens of cases are still open on demonstrators, for criminal charges including trespass and damage to public infrastructure.
