Damage Site Summary

Significant ecologic and hydrologic damages were caused by pipeline relocation construction for Enbridge’s Line 3/93.

Enbridge’s reckless work pierced artesian aquifers, unleashing millions of gallons of groundwater across the land. Their horizontal directional drilling process, which Enbridge promoted as the safest way to cross high value streams, failed on 63% of crossings, leaving drilling fluid throughout wetlands across Minnesota.

This sheet describes damages at four of the many places documented by our volunteers: LaSalle Creek, a known trouble spot for previous pipeline projects; Moose Lake, where WA forced the state and Enbridge to admit a fourth aquifer breach in July 2023; Gichi-ziibi/Mississippi River, where multiple frac-outs were denied by MPCA and largely ignored by USACE when they occurred in July 2021; the 330-mile Enbridge Line 3/93 corridor, fragmenting and destroying natural habitat.

Hydrologic Damage Sheet

This fact sheet describes 10 ways that oil pipeline construction can change water flow in geologic settings like northern Minnesota.

Each of the 10 hydrologic impacts described here are either documented or suspected along the Enbridge Line 3/93 corridor. Importantly, due diligence could have identified all of these risks prior to construction.

For each water or wetland crossing, Enbridge should have determined (or been compelled to determine) aquifer characteristics and pressures, the depth and thickness of confining units, the moisture content of peat, the depth of contact between peat and mineral soil, and natural seasonal fluctuations in the water table over one full hydrologic year.

They did not.
The regulatory agencies did not require it.
We live now with the ongoing damages.

DNR Aquifer Breach Response Documentation