White Earth tribal officials and Honor the Earth’s executive director will hold a media event about drought, dewatering, and wild rice concerns.
According to the notice issued by the White Earth Reservation Business Committee, the decision to grant Enbridge a variance to the state dewatering permit was granted without consulting the tribe.
Most of Minnesota is in a moderate drought and the White Earth Nation is in a severe drought.
Enbridge’s Line 3 replacement project is expected to be complete later this year.
Manoomin, or wild rice, is considered a sacred food and many tribal members rely on the fall harvest for their income.
Dewatering is a construction technique that in this case is used to install pipes in watery areas, to lower the water table for horizontal drilling.
Best practices recommend pumping the water into a marshy or wooded area, if possible.
UPDATED: The event has been postponed due to the weather.
