Enbridge Energy will pay more than $11 million in fines and penalties for water quality violations and multiple aquifer breaches related to the company’s Line 3 pipeline construction project in northern Minnesota.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and D-N-R today (Mon) announced the results of what they call “extensive enforcement investigations.”
The M-P-C-A says between June and August 2021, construction storm water was discharged into wetlands… and drilling mud was inadvertently released into surface waters at 12 locations.
The D-N-R has also finalized two enforcement resolution agreements to address three aquifer breaches related to Line 3 construction.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison also said he has filed a misdemeanor criminal charge against Enbridge for taking water without a permit at the Clearbrook aquifer.
A statement from Enbridge said that the charge will be dismissed following one year of compliance with state water rules.
Enbridge also agreed to fund up to $60,000 for fen restoration in Polk and Marshall Counties.
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(MPCA/DNR release: )
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) and Department of Natural Resources (DNR) today announced the results from extensive enforcement investigations of water quality violations and aquifer breaches related to Enbridge Energy’s Line 3 pipeline construction project in northern Minnesota. Combined with the previous DNR actions, and in partnership with Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, these investigations have resulted in more than $11 million in payments, environmental projects, and financial assurances from Enbridge.
The MPCA investigation found that Enbridge violated a series of regulations and requirements including discharging construction stormwater into wetlands and inadvertently releasing drilling mud into surface waters at 12 locations between June 8, 2021, and August 5, 2021. Building upon previous enforcement actions, the DNR has also finalized two comprehensive enforcement resolution agreements to address three aquifer breaches related to Line 3 construction. These agreements are in addition to Attorney General Keith Ellison announcing a settlement with Enbridge that includes fines and environmental restoration.
“At the start of this project, the MPCA issued our most stringent water quality certification to date and permits that were strong, enforceable, and protective — and this enforcement action holds Enbridge accountable for the violations that occurred during construction,” said MPCA Commissioner Katrina Kessler. “We are committed to protecting Minnesota’s wetlands and streams and will continue to monitor the company’s ongoing work to return the site to its pre-construction condition.”
“In entering into these comprehensive enforcement actions, the DNR is holding Enbridge fully accountable and ensuring that the DNR has the resources needed to address the aquifer breaches,” DNR Commissioner Sarah Strommen said. “We deeply appreciate the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa’s partnership in investigating and addressing the aquifer breach affecting their Reservation. We will continue work to ensure that mitigation and restoration efforts effectively address damages to Minnesota’s natural resources resulting from these aquifer breaches.”
DNR and Fond du Lac Band Enforcement Actions
The DNR and the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa reached an agreement with Enbridge to address an aquifer breach at Milepost 1102.5, just west of the Fond du Lac Reservation. This agreement includes:
- $150,000 in funds for the DNR and Fond du Lac to conduct ongoing monitoring
- $20,000 (the statutory maximum) in penalty funds to the DNR
- $105,000 in penalty funds to Fond du Lac
- $200,000 to Fond du Lac for water quality enhancement projects
- $300,000 in financial assurance funds available to the DNR, if needed, for restoration, mitigation, or monitoring
- $1 million in financial assurance funds available to Fond du Lac, if needed, for restoration, mitigation, or monitoring
Separately, the DNR and Enbridge reached an agreement for two other aquifer breaches, one near Enbridge’s Clearbrook Terminal and the other near the LaSalle Creek Crossing. This agreement builds on previous enforcement actions taken in the fall of 2021, which included $20,000 in penalties, $590,000 for mitigation and monitoring, and $2.75 million in escrow as financial assurance for fen wetlands mitigation and restoration, if needed. The new agreement includes $165,400 in additional groundwater mitigation funds for the Clearbrook location.
For the LaSalle Creek site, the new agreement includes:
- $100,000 in funds to conduct ongoing monitoring
- $20,000 (the statutory maximum) in penalty funds
- $200,000 in mitigation funds
- $610,000 in financial assurance funds, if needed, for restoration, mitigation, or monitoring
Under these two agreements, the DNR retains its authority to pursue further enforcement, restoration, and mitigation if the DNR identifies additional aquifer breach sites.
As of October 11, 2022, the repairs made in April to the breach at Milepost 1102.5 have eliminated the uncontrolled groundwater flow at that location. The repairs at LaSalle Creek have lowered the uncontrolled flow to 20 gallons per minute and the Clearbrook flow to less than one gallon per minute. DNR continues to monitor these sites, evaluate additional breach repair options, and address any natural resource-related concerns.
Additional information about DNR enforcement actions is available online.
MPCA Enforcement Action
The MPCA investigation results require Enbridge to:
- Pay $2.395 million to the State of Minnesota
- Fund $2.625 million to complete several supplemental environmental projects in affected watersheds along the project line
MPCA considered violations of its water quality certification through on-site investigations, independent environmental monitors, and from Enbridge. MPCA placed additional requirements on Enbridge during construction, including increasing the number of independent environmental monitors and requiring turbidity curtains at river crossings as a preemptive barrier to contain any inadvertent drilling releases. Enbridge and MPCA worked together to address the violations that occurred during construction.
The new pipeline began operating once construction was completed in November 2021, however the MPCA applicable permits for the project remain in place as Enbridge works to ensure all sites along the pipeline route are returned to their condition prior to construction.
Additional information is available in the MPCA Enbridge Line 3 enforcement agreement.
Minnesota state agencies will continue to evaluate any new information about environmental impacts of the construction as it becomes available.
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(Attorney General Keith Ellison release: )
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced today that Enbridge Energy Limited Partnership, the owner and operator of the Line 3 Replacement Project in northern Minnesota, has admitted that in January 2021, it breached a confined aquifer in Clearwater County in the course of building Line 3 that led to an uncontrolled flow of groundwater. Enbridge has further admitted that it understood or should have understood that the aquifer breach resulted from its construction activity, and that it delayed notifying the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources about the breach as required.
Enbridge’s admission comes in the context of Attorney General Ellison filing one misdemeanor count against Enbridge in Clearwater County District Court for appropriating state waters without a permit through construction. This is the only criminal charge available under current Minnesota law for the acts the State alleges in its charge. Attorney General Ellison’s office undertook review of this case when the Clearwater County Attorney, who had original criminal jurisdiction over it, referred it the Attorney General’s office for review. Minnesota Statutes 8.01 provides that a county attorney may refer a criminal case to the Attorney General for review, charging, and prosecution.
Along with the criminal charge, Attorney General Ellison has entered into a diversion agreement, in the form of continuance for dismissal of the charge, in which the State and Enbridge agree that in exchange for Enbridge’s admission of the facts around the aquifer breach, paying a fine of $1,000 — the maximum fine available under the law — and agreeing to remain law-abiding and not further break the law, the charge will be dismissed after one year. In addition, and even though not required under the law, Enbridge agrees to perform a community service project by funding up to $60,000 for fen restoration in Marshall and Polk Counties.
The terms of the diversion agreement are greater than the State could have won if Enbridge had been convicted of the misdemeanor charge at trial.
Copies of the criminal complaint and diversion agreement will be available when the court has opened the docket with a case file number, which the State anticipates will happen later today.
The filing of the criminal charge and agreement with Enbridge comes in the context of other agreements with Enbridge that the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, and the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa announced today in which Enbridge agrees to make cash payments, pay penalties, fund environmental restoration and monitoring, and provide financial assurances worth more than $11 million.
“The facts that Enbridge admits today about its breach of the aquifer constitute in the State’s view a criminal violation of the law. Corporations rarely admit facts that constitute a violation of criminal law. Unless and until the Legislature changes the law, a misdemeanor is the only charge against Enbridge the State can support with probable cause under current state law. I am pleased that the agreement we have reached with Enbridge is greater than any penalty we could have won against Enbridge at trial,” Attorney General Ellison said.
“Today’s resolution of the criminal charge I filed against Enbridge, coupled with the other settlements the State has reached, constitute an important step forward in holding Enbridge accountable for the damage it caused to Minnesota’s water and environment, and for restoring that damage.”
“The Clearwater County Attorney’s Office would like to thank Attorney General Ellison and his staff for their dedication and hard work on this complex case,” Clearwater County Attorney Kathryn Lorsbach said.
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