Sunday, September 19, 2021

Full moon - harvest moon — The full moon of September, known as the "harvest moon," will soon be shining in the night sky this week. It's the same week autumn officially starts.Shutterstock

By Len Melisurgo | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

The full moon of September 2021 will be shining in the night sky this week, just in time for the official start of fall as the autumn equinox arrives.

Better known as the “harvest moon,” the September moon will officially reach its fullest phase at 7:54 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 20. But it will look big and bright for a few days.

The moon will be 98% full on Sunday, 100% full Monday and Tuesday, and 98% full on Wednesday, Sept. 22 — the first official day of fall, known as the autumn equinox or autumnal equinox.

ALSO: Fall foliage forecast is looking ‘vibrant’ in parts of eastern U.S.

The equinox occurs when the sun rises directly over the equator, bringing an almost equal amount of daylight and darkness hours in the northern and southern hemispheres on that calendar day.

When to see the full moon rise

The best time to see the September harvest moon will be when it begins to rise in the eastern sky at about 7:15 p.m. Eastern time Monday, 20 minutes after the sun sets, and as it starts to rise at 7:36 p.m. on Tuesday.

The near-full moon will be rising Sunday at 6:48 p.m. and Wednesday at 7:59 p.m.

Nicknames for the September full moon

September’s full moon has a nickname related to the growing season. During most years, it is called the “harvest moon,” but sometimes that nickname is reserved for the October full moon.

It all depends on which of those two full moons appears closest to date of the autumn equinox.

Because this year’s full moon will appear on the night of Sept. 20, two days before autumn arrives, it will be called a harvest moon.

Last year, the September full moon appeared on Sept. 1, followed by another full moon on Oct. 1. “Because October 1 was closer to the equinox, October’s full moon was called the harvest moon and September’s full moon took on its traditional name: the corn moon,” the Old Farmer’s Almanac noted.

In addition to those nicknames, some native American tribes call the September full moon the barley moon, “because it is the time to harvest and thresh the ripened barley,” the Old Farmer’s Almanac says.

Space.com says the September full moon was known as the “falling leaves moon” among the Ojibwe tribe in the Great Lakes region, while the Cree of Ontario referred to this moon as the “rutting moon” because September was the time when many animals, particularly deer, started their mating.

moon photos — The September harvest moon will officially reach its full phase on Monday, Sept. 20, 2021. It also will be 100% full on Tuesday, Sept. 21.SL

When is the October full moon?

Last year, because of the lunar cycle’s timing, we had a special treat during the Halloween season — two full moons in October, including one on Oct. 31.

But this year, things will return to normal, with just one full moon in October. The so-called “hunter’s moon” will be shining at its fullest phase at 10:56 a.m. on Oct. 20, 2021.

The final full moons of 2021 will be shining in the sky on Nov. 19 and Dec. 18.

Hear the sounds of space with these Chandra sonifications

By Georgina TorbenSeptember 18, 2021

NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory has shared a new way to experience space, with three new “sonifications” which turn visual astronomy data into sounds.

The first sonification is of Westerlund 2, a cluster of young stars which have been imaged in the optical wavelength by Hubble and in the X-ray wavelength by Chandra. As the sound moves from left to right across the image, brighter lights are represented by louder sounds, and lights toward the top of the image are higher in pitch.

The second sonification is of the Tycho supernova remnant, with sounds that start in the center of the remnant and move outward. The reddest colors, which indicate iron, are represented by lower notes, and the bluest colors which indicate sulfur are represented by higher notes.

Finally, the sonification of the galaxy M87 shows the location of the famous giant black hole at its center, with the sound sweeping around the image like a radar. Light that is closest to the center of the galaxy is represented by higher pitch notes, and light farther out from the center is represented by lower notes.

As well as engaging the general public with science, one of the main aims of the project was to enable blind or visually impaired people to appreciate the wonder of space, Chandra Visualization Lead Scientist Kimberly Arcand explained.

“The sonifications are tested and verified with experts and non-experts who are blind or low vision (e.g., astrophysicist, amateur astronomer, students),” she said. “Each sonification is created to best portray the scientific data in a way that makes the most sense for the specific data, keeping it accurately represented and telling the story, while also providing a new way of conveying meaning through sound.”

Arcand also said she hopes her team can continue to make more sonifications in the future as they have been so well received. “From user testing of the sonifications with different audiences (from students to adults who are blind or low vision), the response has been overwhelmingly positive. Indeed, emotion-inducingly positive,” she said.

“We definitely hope to keep continuing to work on applying more universal design to our astronomical data overall. How can we not? We’re excited to play a part in making the Universe accessible to as many people as possible.”

AMAZING

Jupiter explosion captured in video by an amateur astronomer

jessesheridan2 days ago

Amateur astronomers on two continents independently observed and recorded a white flash of light in the atmosphere on Jupiter’s Monday.

Scientists and astronomers are working to see what a few stargazers on the two continents saw on Monday: a bright flash of Jupiter’s atmosphere probably affects the largest planet in our solar system. It was a space lock to give.

According to the report, at least five people in Brazil, Germany, France and Italy saw and recorded the white flashes on their own. Amateur Planet Observer Mark Del Croix.

NS Event video Uploaded by Jose Luis Pereira of Brazil, it has been viewed 1.2 million times since Tuesday. According to Sky & Telescope, The impact occurred on Monday at 6:39 pm EST.Pereira decides to reaffirm what he saw DeTeCt software -Created by Delcroy-It was often used by observers to check for planetary effects and more.

The European Space Agency has tweeted an image from Pereira in its operational account.

Ernest Guido of Italy tweeted an image he said was taken by amateur astronomers in Germany and France.

Paul Burn, Associate Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Washington, Reportedly told Inverse The size of the object can be hundreds of meters.

“We know it can’t be too big — an image of Jupiter because the impact doesn’t reveal the scars of the impact,” Burn said.

The impact mark was famously left in July 1994 when Comet Shoemaker-Levy-9 collided with a planet and left a dark feature on Jupiter, which is larger than Earth.

If Monday’s event is confirmed to be a strike, it will be the eighth recorded event from Earth since Shoemaker-Levy-9.

Information and observations continue to be edited, and Delcroy asks the person who saw the flash individually. Contact him..

Jupiter explosion captured in video by an amateur astronomy

Source link Jupiter explosion captured in video by an amateur astronomy

Ancient DNA rewrites early Japanese history—modern day populations have tripartite genetic origin

by Trinity College Dublin

Kamikuroiwa rock shelter: this site is located in Kumakogen, Kamiukena District, Ehime

Ancient DNA extracted from human bones has rewritten early Japanese history by underlining that modern day populations in Japan have a tripartite genetic origin—a finding that refines previously accepted views of a dual genomic ancestry.

Twelve newly sequenced ancient Japanese genomes show that modern day populations do indeed show the genetic signatures of early indigenous Jomon hunter-gatherer-fishers and immigrant Yayoi farmers—but also add a third genetic component that is linked to the Kofun peoples, whose culture spread in Japan between the 3rd and 7th centuries.

Rapid cultural transformations

The Japanese archipelago has been occupied by humans for at least 38,000 years but Japan underwent rapid transformations only in the last 3,000 years, first from foraging to wet-rice farming, and then to a technologically advanced imperial state.

The previous, long-standing hypothesis suggested that mainland Japanese populations derive dual-ancestry from the indigenous Jomon hunter-gatherer-fishers, who inhabited the Japanese archipelago from around 16,000 to 3,000 years ago, and later Yayoi farmers, who migrated from the Asian continent and lived in Japan from around 900 BC to 300 AD.

But the 12 newly sequenced ancient Japanese genomes—which came from the bones of people living in pre- and post-farming periods—also identify a later influx of East Asian ancestry during the imperial Kofun period, which lasted from around 300 to 700 AD and which saw the emergence of political centralisation in Japan.

Ancient DNA rewrites early Japanese history -- modern day populations have tripartite genetic origin — Jomon potteries excavated from the Odake shell midden (Early Jomon). A buried skeleton

Shigeki Nakagome, Assistant Professor in Psychiatry in Trinity College Dublin's School of Medicine, led the research, which brought together an interdisciplinary team of researchers from Japan and Ireland. Professor Nakagome said:

"Researchers have been learning more and more about the cultures of the Jomon, Yayoi, and Kofun periods as more and more ancient artefacts show up, but before our research we knew relatively little about the genetic origins and impact of the agricultural transition and later state-formation phase."

"We now know that the ancestors derived from each of the foraging, agrarian, and state-formation phases made a significant contribution to the formation of Japanese populations today. In short, we have an entirely new tripartite model of Japanese genomic origins—instead of the dual-ancestry model that has been held for a significant time."

Genomic insights into key Japanese transformations

In addition to the overarching discovery, the analyses also found that the Jomon maintained a small effective population size of around 1,000 over several millennia, with a deep divergence from continental populations dated to 20,000-15,000 years ago—a period which saw Japan become more geographically insular through rising sea-levels.

The Japanese archipelago had become accessible through the Korean Peninsula at the beginning of the Last Glacial Maximum, some 28,000 years ago, enabling movement between. And the widening of the Korea Strait 16,000 to 17,000 years ago due to rising sea-levels may have led to the subsequent isolation of the Jomon lineage from the rest of the continent. These time frames also coincide with the oldest evidence of Jomon pottery production.

"The indigenous Jomon people had their own unique lifestyle and culture within Japan for thousands of years prior to the adoption of rice farming during the subsequent Yayoi period. Our analysis clearly finds them to be a genetically distinct population with an unusually high affinity between all sampled individuals—even those differing by thousands of years in age and excavated from sites on different islands," explained Niall Cooke, Ph.D. Researcher at Trinity. "These results strongly suggest a prolonged period of isolation from the rest of the continent."

The spread of agriculture is often marked by population replacement, as documented in the Neolithic transition throughout most of Europe, with only minimal contributions from hunter-gatherer populations observed in many regions. However, the researchers found genetic evidence that the agricultural transition in prehistoric Japan involved the process of assimilation, rather than replacement, with almost equal genetic contributions from the indigenous Jomon and new immigrants associated with wet-rice farming.

Several lines of archaeological evidence support the introduction of new large settlements to Japan, most likely from the southern Korean peninsula, during the Yayoi-Kofun transition. And the analyses provide strong support for the genetic exchange involved in the appearance of new social, cultural, and political traits in this state-formation phase.

"The Japanese archipelago is an especially interesting part of the world to investigate using a time series of ancient samples given its exceptional prehistory of long-standing continuity followed by rapid cultural transformations. Our insights into the complex origins of modern-day Japanese once again shows the power of ancient genomics to uncover new information about human prehistory that could not be seen otherwise," added Dan Bradley, Professor of Population Genetics in Trinity's School of Genetics and Microbiology, who co-led the project.

The eye-opening research has just been published in Science Advances.

New genetic evidence resolves origins of modern Japanese

More information: "Ancient genomics reveals tripartite origins of Japanese populations," Science Advances (2021). www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abh2419

Journal information: Science Advances

Provided by Trinity College Dublin

KENNEY AND O'TOOLE AGREE ON CHILD CARE FUNDING

THAR'S GOLD UP IN THEM THAR HILLS

Visualizing the economic impact of British Columbia’s Golden Triangle

Visual Capitalist | September 17, 2021 |

The Economic Impact of British Columbia’s Golden Triangle

At the heart of British Columbia’s mining industry lies the Golden Triangle. This region has helped transform the province’s mining industry into a significant source of revenue and investment.

In 2020, the Golden Triangle accounted for roughly 44% of the $422 million in mineral exploration expenditures in British Columbia. In 2019, the Red Chris and Brucejack mines contributed around $1 billion to the province’s estimated annual gross mining revenues.

This is infographic is sponsored by the B.C. Regional Mining Alliance (BCRMA) which brings the best of this region to the world through a partnership between indigenous groups, industry, and provincial government representatives.

Here is how the Golden Triangle began.

The Golden Triangle’s Unique Geology

Between 220 and 175 million years ago, the Golden Triangle’s wealth was forming deep in the Earth for the world to discover. Most metal deposits form from superheated water that cycle over many kilometers, collecting metal atoms as they rise to the surface of the Earth’s crust and settle into deposits.

Industry, government, and university geologists have worked for over a century to understand the Golden Triangle’s unique geology to uncover its mineral wealth. This unique geology cradles the world-class deposits that define the legendary “Golden Triangle” of British Columbia.
A History of Discovery and Mining in the Golden Triangle

Historical gold rushes brought mining to the area, but the region’s vast copper deposits will deliver the key mineral for B.C.’s green future. More than 150 mines have operated in the area since prospectors first arrived at the end of the 19th century.

1861: Alexander Choquette kicked off the Stikine Gold Rush after finding gold at the confluence of the Stikine and Anuk Rivers.

1918 – 1952: The first big discovery in the Golden Triangle was at the Premier Gold Mine, which started operations in 1918. It produced 2 million ounces of gold and 45 million ounces of silver. Today, Ascot Resources is re-starting processing from this gold mine.

1964: The Snip Mine was discovered by Cominco but the deposit stayed dormant until 1986. The mine produced approximately 1 million ounces of gold from 1991 until 1999. Today, Skeena Resources is advancing the Snip Project.

1994: Eskay became Canada’s highest-grade gold mine and the world’s fifth largest silver producer, with production above 3 million ounces of gold and 160 million ounces of silver. Skeena Resources is also bringing the Eskay mining back into production.

2009: The discovery of the Brucejack gold and silver deposit led to the development of an underground mine. The mine has produced 1,230,644 ounces of gold since it began operations in 2017.

2013: The KSM Project is one of the largest undeveloped gold projects in the world. A Preliminary Feasibility Study estimates proven and probable reserves total 38.8 million ounces of gold and 10.2 billion pounds of copper.

2015: The Red Chris shipped its first load of copper concentrate. In 2020 metals production was 88.3 million pounds copper and 73,787 ounces gold. Imperial Metals and Newcrest jointly operate the mine.

This long tradition of discovery and mining is laying the foundations for the next generation of investment.

Today’s Golden Age for Exploration and Development

Continued exploration is necessary for new discoveries and advancing projects to new mines. More importantly, the minerals discovered today will be needed in the low carbon economy and British Columbia—in particular, the Golden Triangle will play its part in delivering metals for renewable technology.

Source: Based on data collected for the EY LLP, 2020 British Columbia Mineral and Coal Exploration Survey

Gold and copper account for most of the exploration in the Golden Triangle, but other commodities for the low-carbon economy such as silver, nickel, and zinc also attract interest. A strong exploration industry is the beginning for future investment, new jobs, and community development.
A Bright Future: Investing in Community

The Golden Triangle continues to attract exploration activity as infrastructure and community development lays the success for future generations and industries.

Community:
Agreements with First Nations (Tahltan and Nisga’a Nations)
38% of expenditures stays in the region
97% stays in British Columbia
150+ communities benefit

Infrastructure:
The paving of the Stewart-Cassiar highway
The opening of ocean port facilities for concentrate export at Stewart
The completion of a $700-million high-voltage transmission line bringing power into the region

This is a new beginning for the continued economic impact of British Columbia’s Golden Triangle.

(This article first appeared in the Visual Capitalist)

MINING IS NOT SUSTAINABLE

Protesters not 'terrorists': Lawyers argue against Fairy Creek injunction extension

Protesters not 'terrorists'

The Canadian Press - Sep 16, 2021 / 5:26 pm | Story: 346025

Photo: The Canadian Press

A watch camp that was recently abandoned because members formed a new blockade a few kilometres away is shown in the Fairy Creek area near Port Renfrew, B.C., on May, 11, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jen Osborne

A British Columbia court heard today from lawyers who say people from all walks of life with concerns about protecting old-growth trees from logging on Vancouver Island are being treated like terrorists by the police and a forestry company.

The lawyers represent about half a dozen people who oppose a court application by Teal Cedar Products Ltd. to extend an injunction order against protest blockades in the Fairy Creek area by one year.

About 1,000 people have have been arrested in the area north of Port Renfrew since May when the RCMP started to enforce an earlier B.C. Supreme Court injunction against blockades erected in several areas near logging sites.

Lawyer Elizabeth Strain showed the court videos and photographs of police allegedly unsafely removing protesters from trees and ditches, and pulling off the face masks of people at the blockades before dousing them with pepper spray.

She says the protesters include youth, teachers, retired scientists, doctors, lawyers and students with fears about climate change and they want to protect the trees, but they are being treated like terrorists.

During the hearing, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Douglas Thompson said the protesters appear to be employing tactics purposely designed to make enforcement of the injunction difficult for the police.

Lawyer Matthew Nefstead, who is representing several members of the Rainforest Flying Squad protest group, says granting the injunction extension should be denied because it could be viewed by the police as granting them further powers.

Teal Cedar lawyer Dean Dalke told the court Tuesday the blockades are impeding the company's legal rights to harvest timber and alleged the actions of the protesters pose dangers to employees and the RCMP.

Police union survey says most in B.C. support enforcement at Fairy Creek

82% agree with enforcement, 77% support right to peaceful protest

RCMP officers and protesters face off at a camp in Fairy Creek

with tripod structures visible in the background. (Submitted by BC RCMP)

KEVIN ROTHBAUER
Sep. 16, 2021

According to a survey commissioned by the National Police Federation, the vast majority of British Columbians support RCMP enforcement of the BC Supreme Court injunction in the Fairy Creek watershed, but numbers are split when it comes to supporting civil disobedience to stop old-growth logging.

Pollara surveyed 800 randomly selected British Columbians, including 299 Vancouver Island residents, between Aug. 30 and Sept. 2, and 82 per cent said they agree with the statement that “the police have a duty to enforce Supreme Court injunctions.”

The National Police Federation represents roughly 20,000 RCMP members across Canada.

The survey also found that 78 per cent believe protest is an important part of democracy, and 73 per cent believe that the request from the Pacheedaht First Nation for the protesters to leave their traditional territory should be respected. Numbers are split with regard to the justification that civil disobedience is justified to stop old-growth logging, with 43 per cent in agreement and 42 per cent opposed.

Nearly half of those surveyed — 47 per cent — said they have been following the Fairy Creek protests closely, including 62 per cent of Vancouver Island residents.

“Our members have professionally and respectfully enforced a B.C. Supreme Court injunction since mid-May,” said National Police Federation president Brian Sauvé. “This has resulted in over 860 arrests for violation of the injunction over 114 days, with very few if any credible complaints, including one related to an incident involving force after a police officer suffered a concussion as a result of being pushed to the ground by a crowd of protesters.”

Sauvé’s statement was released on Sept. 9. The number of arrests at Fairy Creek has since climbed past 1,000, making it the largest act of civil disobedience in Canadian history.

“Our members have maintained their professionalism and composure against a steadily increasing barrage of verbal taunts, racial slurs, engineered physical barriers, human chains, and bindings that threaten the health and safety of everyone in the area,” Sauvé continued. “Protesters and their supporters have also undertaken a campaign of online and personal stalking and harassment of individual officers for which the NPF is considering legal action.”

The RCMP has asked the Attorney General of Canada to change the injunction to give the police force greater powers, including the right to control access to areas in the injunction zone where enforcement is occurring. Teal Jones, which owns the logging rights to Tree Farm Licence 46, which includes the Fairy Creek watershed, has asked for a one-year extension on the injunction, and the Rainforest Flying Squad, which is organizing the protests, is challenging that application.

READ MORE: Old-growth activists want fewer police powers at Fairy Creek, RCMP asking for more

In response to the NPF survey, the RFS agreed that it is the job of the RCMP to enforce injunctions, but questioned their methods of doing so.

“We would ask, though, whether people would agree or disagree that RCMP should endanger the lives of protesters while enforcing the injunction,” the RFS said in a statement to Black Press. “Should people practicing civil disobedience to protect forests for the good of all be treated like criminals, or in some cases, in ways that it’s illegal to treat animals? Should the RCMP deny access to journalists in injunction zones, even after the court has reaffirmed the importance and democratic right of journalists to report on police activities such as enforcement of injunctions?”

The results of the survey haven’t affected the feelings of the protesters, they added.

“The commitment and morale of the forest defenders have not flagged, despite the RCMP’s racism, recklessness and contempt for protestors’ safety, and despite their well-resourced and well-funded media department’s intensive PR campaign against us,” the statement continued. “However, the respect that some of us (mostly white settlers) had for RCMP members before, believing them to be impartial defenders and protectors in society, has really taken a beating.

“Protecting B.C.’s old-growth forests is still one of our best hopes to mitigate the climate crisis. Logging old-growth forests causes more carbon emissions than any other activity in our province, but is not counted in provincial tallies.

“Sacred areas on unceded Indigenous territories are being obliterated. Endangered species and/or their habitat are being destroyed daily. We remain committed to protecting these forests and ecosystems until government halts their destruction.”

For more news from Vancouver Island and beyond delivered daily into your inbox, please click here.

Wisconsin Launches Probe Into Methane Plume Spotted From Space

Naureen S. Malik and Aaron Clark
Fri., September 17, 2021

(Bloomberg) -- Wisconsin is investigating a methane plume that was spotted by a satellite last week.

The state launched a probe after being contacted by Bloomberg News about a plume of methane detected in southwest Wisconsin by Kayrros SAS, which relied on a Sept. 10 satellite observation from the European Space Agency. The geoanalytics company estimated an emissions rate of 30 tons of methane an hour was needed to generate the release.

“The DNR was made aware of a potential methane plume in Southwest Wisconsin, and commenced investigations immediately,” spokeswoman Molly Meister said in an email Friday. “No reports of planned or unplanned work or releases by regulated sources in the area of the plume have been identified by DNR thus far.”

Halting intentional releases and accidental leaks of methane, the primary component of natural gas, could do more to slow climate change than almost any other single measure. The U.S. And the European Union this week unveiled a new initiative to pare global methane emissions by 30% before the end of the decade. Methane has more than 80 times the warming impact of carbon dioxide over the short term.

Like many other states, Wisconsin has no methane reporting requirements, and often such releases are never reported or are under-reported to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

This year, Energy Transfer LP and Gazprom PJSC confirmed emissions in the U.S. and Russia after Bloomberg News reported plumes spotted from satellites.

Enbridge ordered to pay US$3 million for Line 3 groundwater leak

The Associated Press
Friday, September 17, 2021

Al Beesley, Senior Safety Coordinator, leans on some pipe while waiting for a press conference to start with Alberta Premier Rachel Notley during a tour of Enbridge's Line 3 pipeline replacement project in Hardisty Alta., on Thursday, Aug.10, 2017.

(Jason Franson/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

ST. PAUL, MINN. -- Minnesota regulators have ordered Enbridge to pay more than US$3 million for allegedly violating state environmental law by piercing a groundwater aquifer during construction of the Line 3 oil pipeline replacement.

The state Department of Natural Resources said Enbridge, while working near Clearbrook in January, dug too deeply into the ground and pierced an artesian aquifer, which resulted in a 24 million gallon groundwater leak.

"Enbridge's actions are a clear violation of state law, and also of the public trust," said Barb Naramore, DNR deputy commissioner. "That is why we are using all of the tools in our authority to address the situation."

Enbridge said in a statement Friday that it was reviewing the DNR's order and would work with the agency on a resolution.

"Enbridge has been working with the DNR since June to provide the required site information and approval of a corrective action plan which is currently being implemented," the Calgary, Alberta-based company said. "We share a strong desire to protect Minnesota waters and the environment and we are committed to restoration."

It wasn't until mid-June that the DNR discovered something was wrong after speaking to independent construction monitors who had observed water pooling in the pipeline trench near Clearbrook.

The DNR has ordered Enbridge to put $2.7 million into escrow for restoration and damage to nearby wetlands. Enbridge is also required to pay $300,000 to mitigate the lost groundwater and $250,000 for long-term monitoring of the wetlands.

Enbridge's 340-mile (547-kilometre) Line 3 replacement pipeline will carry Canadian crude across northern Minnesota to the company's terminal in Superior, Wisconsin. The pipeline, opposed by environmental groups and some Ojibwe tribes, is nearly complete. The project is replacing a deteriorating line built in the 1960s that can only run at half capacity.

Enbridge fined for breaching Minnesota environmental laws during Line 3 construction

September 17, 202111:29 AM The Canadian Press

CALGARY – Enbridge Inc. has been fined for breaching Minnesota environmental laws during the construction of its Line 3 pipeline replacement.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has ordered Enbridge to pay $3.32 million for breaching an aquifer containing groundwater during construction of a trench near the company’s Clearbrook Terminal.

The department says Enbridge did not follow the construction plans it had originally provided, and instead dug the trench deeper than proposed. It says the resulting breach of the aquifer caused an unauthorized release of 24.2 million gallons of water, which has had to be pumped, treated and released to a nearby wetland.

The department says it has also referred the matter to the Clearwater County Attorney for criminal prosecution. It says Minnesota law makes it a crime to appropriate waters of the state without a permit.

Enbridge says it has been working with Minnesota since June on the issue and has implemented a corrective action plan to halt the flow of groundwater. It says it is committed to restoration and will work closely with the agency on a resolution.

Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline replacement is expected to be in service by the end of the year. The $9.3-billion project is expected to add about 370,000 barrel per day of crude oil export capacity from Western Canada into the U.S.

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