Minnesota Appeals Court Upholds Key Approvals For $9Bln Line 3 Pipeline Replacement

The Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled on Monday that Enbridge's Energy's $9 billion Line 3 oil pipeline replacement project received key approvals from state regulators

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th June, 2021) The Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled on Monday that Enbridge's Energy's $9 billion Line 3 oil pipeline replacement project received key approvals from state regulators.

"While reasonable minds may differ on the central question of need for replacement Line 3, substantial evidence supports the commission's decision to issue a certificate of need," Judge Lucinda Jesson wrote in the court opinion. "Finally, the commission reasonably selected a route for the replacement pipeline based upon respect for tribal sovereignty, while minimizing environmental impacts. Accordingly, we affirm."

Then new 340-mile pipeline will carry 760,000 barrels of oil per day from Alberta, Canada, to the US state of Wisconsin.

Environmental and tribe groups oppose the pipeline claiming it will be a threat to water resources, which could infringe on several tribes' treaty rights to hunt, fish and gather wild rice in the region.

Thousands of protesters last week gathered at the construction site of the new pipeline near Park Rapids in northern Minnesota and police arrested about 100 protesters.

Police used a sonic device known as a long-range acoustic device (LRAD) and a low-flying helicopter to cause dust and debris in order to disperse protesters at the site.