Description: Application for replacement oil pipeline in Minnesota.
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In re Enbridge Energy, LP
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 09/17/2019 Order Petitions for further review denied. Minnesota Supreme Court Declined to Review Claims Regarding Environmental Review for Oil Pipeline . The Minnesota Supreme Court denied petitions for further review of an appellate court decision finding all but one aspect of the environmental review for the Enbridge Line 3 oil pipeline project to be adequate. (The appellate court said the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission gave inadequate attention to the potential impact of an oil spill in the Lake Superior watershed.) The StarTribune reported that non-profit group Honor the Earth and the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe filed one petition, and Friends of the Headwaters filed another petition, each arguing that there were other shortcomings in the Public Utilities Commission’s review. -
In re Enbridge Energy, LP
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 06/03/2019 Opinion Download Commission's adequacy decision reversed and remanded. Minnesota Appellate Court Sent EIS for Oil Pipeline Back to Public Utilities Commission. The Minnesota Court of Appeals reversed the Public Utilities Commission’s determination that the final environmental impact statement (FEIS) for the proposed Enbridge Line 3 oil pipeline project was adequate. Although the court upheld the Commission’s conclusion that the consideration of many issues, including upstream greenhouse gas emissions, was adequate, the court found that the FEIS was inadequate because it did not address the potential impact of an oil spill into the Lake Superior watershed. -
In re Enbridge Energy, L.P.
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 11/21/2018 Order Download Order issued denying reconsideration, excluding filings, and granting variance. Minnesota Public Utilities Commission Denied Rehearing on Certificate of Need for Replacement Crude Oil Pipeline. On November 21, 2018, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission denied petitions for rehearing of the Commission’s order granting a certificate of need for the replacement of the Enbridge Energy Line 3 crude oil pipeline. The Commission granted the certificate of need in a September 5, 2018 order, rejecting concerns raised by an administrative law judge about the replacement pipeline’s route, which would abandon the old pipeline in place. 09/05/2018 Order Download Order issued granting certificate of need as modified and requiring filings. In an order granting the certificate of need for the replacement of the Enbridge Energy Line 3 crude oil pipeline, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission rejected concerns raised by an administrative law judge about the replacement pipeline’s route, which would abandon the old pipeline in place. The Commission found that the consequences of granting the certificate of need would be more favorable than those of denying the certificate if the project were modified to require a removal program allowing landowners to choose to have the existing pipeline removed where feasible. In a discussion of potential climate change impacts in its September order, the Commission concluded that the project’s lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions would be “a significant consequence” but that the environmental costs did not result directly from the project but from “the continued demand for crude oil to produce refined products used by consumers.” The Commission found that record evidence did not support a conclusion that denial of the certificate of need would significantly reduce demand for crude oil. As a condition of the granting of the certificate of need, Enbridge must purchase renewable energy credits to offset the incremental increase in nonrenewable energy consumed by the project. 07/03/2018 Order Download Reconsideration of EIS order denied. 05/01/2018 Order Download Order issued finding environmental impact statement adequate and adopting ALJ's November 2017 report as modified. -
In re Enbridge Energy, L.P.
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 04/23/2018 Findings and Recommendations Download Findings of fact, conclusions of law, and recommendation issued. Minnesota Administrative Law Judge Recommended Replacement Oil Pipeline Be Approved Only if Constructed in Existing Corridor. A Minnesota administrative law judge recommended that the Public Utilities Commission grant a certificate of need for a “replacement” oil pipeline but only if the Commission also required in-trench replacement. The applicant sought to abandon the existing line in place and build a new pipeline that would require a new pipeline corridor for approximately 50% of its route. The ALJ expressed concern that abandonment of the existing line and creation of the new corridor “leaves open the possibility of thousands of miles of … pipelines someday being abandoned in-place when they are no longer economically useful,” particularly “in a carbon-conscious world moving away from fossil fuels.” The ALJ’s decision also summarized the greenhouse gas analysis for the pipeline and found that the pipeline did not support Minnesota’s renewable energy and greenhouse gas reduction goals, but the ALJ’s ultimate recommendation did not turn on those issues. -
In re Enbridge Energy, L.P.
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 10/26/2018 Order Download Order issued approving routing permit.