MPCA reports more spills along Line 3 construction route
This June 29, 2018 file photo shows tanks at the Enbridge Energy terminal in Superior, Wis. Wednesday is the deadline for tribal and environmental groups opposed to Enbridge Energy's Line 3 oil pipeline project to ask the Minnesota Supreme Court to overturn a lower court decision affirming the approvals granted by independent regulators that allowed construction to begin last December.[Jim Mone/Associated Press]
Minnesota regulators now say there have been more releases of drilling fluid along the Line 3 oil pipeline construction route than previously reported.
According the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, there were 28 releases at 12 river crossing locations by Aug. 5. In one of those cases, about 80 gallons of fluid entered the Willow River in Aitkin County.
The agency disclosed details about the releases in a letter to Democratic state lawmakers who had requested the information.
Drilling fluid is made mostly of bentonite clay and is not considered toxic, but can impact aquatic life.