Activists asked to leave Enbridge pipeline community meeting

BEMIDJI, Minn. — A community meeting hosted by energy company Enbridge quickly dissolved Tuesday after a Bemidji police officer asked environmental activist Winona LaDuke to leave.

The meeting, held at the DoubleTree hotel in Bemidji, was meant to give community members and landowners information about the proposed replacement of Line 3, an Enbridge oil pipeline that runs from Alberta, Canada, through northern Minnesota to Superior, Wis.

LaDuke, who founded the Native-led environmentalist group Honor the Earth, and other activists hoped to ask Enbridge questions regarding the maintenance of the old pipeline if it is replaced with a new one. A Bemidji police officer asked LaDuke to leave after she and other activists tried to quiet the tightly-packed room about 15 minutes after the meeting began.

"They held an informational meeting — and a lot of people attended — and they didn't seem willing to answer questions," LaDuke said as multiple officers told attendees to leave the room. "They were not prepared to give answers."

Read more: http://www.inforum.com/news/4179434-activists-asked-leave-enbridge-pipeline-community-meeting

Cross-posted in the Environment and Energy Group.