A pipeline explosion in northern Minnesota has rocked the small community of Willow River, approximately 50 miles southwest of Duluth. First reported on social media, local residents heard a sound like a jet engine from miles away. While emerging reports are sketchy, it appears to be a liquid natural gas pipeline owned and operated by Northern Natural Gas. It is most likely their Northern Lights Expansion project, which was just completed in November 2025. 

Tom Goldtooth, Executive Director of the Indigenous Environmental Network, responds, “All pipelines leak, all are dangerous. At this time, when Mother Earth is showing us the symptoms of Climate Catastrophe, we have to rethink our relationship with fossil fuels. It is a dangerous addiction that is leading us down the path of a warming planet that is not sustainable to human life or our animal relatives.” 

This is following The Trump administration’s proposed rule change to section 401 of the Clean Water Act that would speed up and streamline the permitting process for large energy and infrastructure projects, including oil and gas pipelines. This would effectively limit the State and Tribal governments’ ability to halt new pipeline construction for the purpose of protecting water. 

Goldtooth added, “Pipeline safety has always been a concern. Compliance and enforcement of pipeline regulations are critical. There are no shortcuts.”

As the flames burn high on a cold Friday in Minnesota, the story is unfolding and serious questions remain if this explosion comes from the newly finished Northern Lights Expansion. It pokes holes in the talking points from the fossil fuel industry that the only way to make oil safer is by bigger, newer, more pressurized pipelines. 

Our hearts and prayers go out to the community affected by this explosion.