After disrupting the operation of two oil pipelines in northern Minnesota, two environmental activists were each charged Wednesday with two felonies in Clearwater County.
Emily Johnston and Annette Klapstein, both of the Seattle area, were part of pipeline protests by Direct Climate Action in four states on Tuesday. The two closed emergency valves on two Enbridge Energy pipelines about 35 miles northwest of Bemidji, and then waited to turn themselves in to law enforcement, according to a spokeswoman for the activist group.
The pipelines transport Canadian crude oil to a terminal in Superior, Wis.
Activists from Direct Climate Action took similar actions on three other major pipelines transporting Canadian crude, all owned by companies other than Enbridge. They targeted sites in Walhalla, N.D.; Coal Banks Landing, Mont.; and Anacortes, Wash. All were arrested.
The Direct Climate Action website shows a picture of protesters using a bolt cutter to cut the chain securing the valve on Enbridge's pipeline near Leonard. They also used the bolt cutter to get through the gate of a chain-link fence surrounding the pipeline valve.
Protesters at other sites did the same thing, though some valves didn't have chains securing them, said Afrin Sopariwala, a spokeswoman for Direct Climate Action.
"We targeted the tars sands oil because it is the dirtiest fuel," she said, referring to the shale oil from Canada, which some environmentalists said spews more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than other types of crude. "But what motivates us in the larger picture is the climate change catastrophe going on."
Enbridge said Climate Direct Action's "attempts to tamper with energy infrastructure were reckless and dangerous." Shutting off emergency valves "put people and the environment at risk."
