St. Paul protest demands shut down of Line 3
St. Paul, MN – On May 18, over two dozen people came out on a rainy afternoon to rally at the Army Corps of Engineers office in Downtown Saint Paul calling for an end to Line 3 oil pipeline. The event was part of the Climate Justice Committee's campaign to pressure the Army Corp of Engineers (ACoE) to do an Environmental Impact Survey on Line 3.
The ACoE is tasked with reviewing major infrastructure projects like oil pipelines to ensure they are safe for people and the environment. The ACoE chose not to do a full Environmental Impact Survey before pipeline construction started, something protesters have continuously pointed out. The ACoE has the ability to do the survey at any time and use that survey to shut down Line 3.
B. Becker from the Climate Justice Committee spoke, “Line 3 has already shown to be damaging to the environment – it's now come out that three aquifers were breached during construction. There is no way to put the genie back in the bottle when Line 3 releases oil into our waterways. Oil can't be put back in the pipeline once it leaks out. We must demand a full Environmental Impact Survey, and to have the permits revoked to end Line 3.”
Andrew Josefchak from the Anti-War Committee spoke next pointing out, “The connections between U.S. imperialism and environmental justice are inseparable. In the case of Line 3, the U.S. may not be invading to seize oil supplies directly, but it's invading the territory of a sovereign people, in order to ensure the cheap and easy transport of oil, despoiling land in the process and destroying natural resources that indigenous people rely on for their livelihoods.”
The Climate Justice Committee members promised to return and continue to pressure the ACoE to do the Environmental Impact Survey and ultimately shut down Line 3.