Pipestone quarry: Proposed pipeline raises concerns

PIPESTONE, M.N. (Dakota News Now) — Pipelines continue to be a topic of discussion in the Midwest. Just across the border in Minnesota, there are concerns about an application to reactivate and reroute a pipeline. The discussion is going beyond environmental and business issues.

The Magellan Pipeline Corporation believes more fuel access is needed and applied to the Minnesota PUC to recommission a closed petroleum pipeline and reroute part of it near the town of Pipestone.

The news did not sit well with those who cherish the rare quartzite, the namesake of the town.

“Nothing quite like Pipestone, it’s unique,” said Mark Kennth Tilsen with the Indigenous Environmental Network.

Across the land, indigenous practices center on the carved pipes that come only from here.

“What this all is down to is that the Pipestone Quarry is where we get Pipestone from, also known as red catalanite, and it’s permeable, meaning whatever goes around it will be absorbed by the stone, including petroleum,” Tilsen explained. “It’s part of our understanding that all of these Chinupas, all of these pipes are actually connected.”

Some Minnesotans believe a new pipeline goes against the state’s aspirations.

“And investing in fossil fuels infrastructure is not a way to reach towards climate goals,” Tilsen said.

The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce is in favor of the pipeline, saying customers need a reliable source of fuel.

Tilsen watched as the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission issued a mandate.

“And they ordered Magellan to work with the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council in selecting a culturally competent contractor to conduct what they call a cultural survey, which would go through the route and make sure that there’s no artifacts, sacred sites,” Tilsen.

What he saw instead:

“They chose unilaterally to go with their own contractor,” Tilsen said. “We don’t want another pipeline through our treaty territory and through our traditional lands.”

Numerous tribal nations have vowed to protect the quarry and have filed their opposition with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission.

Crow Creek Tribal Chairman Peter Lengkeek issued the following statement to Dakota News Now:

“The Crow Creek Sioux Tribe opposes and denounces any and all threats or degradation to one of our most Sacred sites. We as a nation have survived multiple government extermination orders, government-sanctioned bounty hunters, multiple epidemics and pandemics brought here by European settlers, countless massacres, executions, exile, and boarding schools. We have survived all this because of an instrument that is made of that Redstone. It is why we walk this earth today and why we will be the last to remain standing. The Crow Creek Sioux Tribe stands at the ready to defend against any and all intrusions into this sacred site.”

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission has extended its deadline to receive comments until August 21.

Dakota News Now has requested a comment from Magellan Pipeline and will update this story with any response we receive.