Bridge Disaster Diver Returns Medals in Line 3 Protest

(Garret Ellison | MLive)

MINNEAPOLIS – A former U.S. Navy diver who helped efforts to search for bodies in the treacherous waters of the Mississippi River after the I-35W bridge collapse in 2007 has returned his awards to protest the Line 3 oil pipeline.

The Star Tribune reports that John Miller, a native of Monticello who now lives in Hawaii, asked Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to stop construction on the pipeline replacement project until lawsuits challenging its approval play out in court.

He spoke at an event Monday evening near the site of the bridge disaster, which killed 13 people and injured 145 others.

More than 700 people have been arrested in protests along the Line 3 route in northern Minnesota.