Gov. Mark Dayton vetoes bill that gave Enbridge's new pipeline fast-track approval

Measure would have expedited Enbridge's approval process.

May 22, 2018 at 1:37AM
A pipe fitter lays the finish finishing touches to the replacement of Line 3 stretch before it is covered up.]Enbridge already has started building the 14-mile stretch of Line 3 from the Minnesota line to its terminal in Superior, Wis.
Gov. Mark Dayton vetoed a bill that took oversight of the proposed pipeline by Enbridge Energy away from the PUC. File photo of a pipe fitter working on a stretch of the pipeline. (Colleen Kelly — Richard Tsong-Taatarii/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

As expected, Gov. Mark Dayton vetoed legislation that would have allowed Enbridge to build a controversial new oil pipeline without getting regulatory approval.

The legislation would have terminated a three-year process before the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) that is nearly complete.

The PUC is slated next month to decide if Enbridge's new Line 3 across northern Minnesota is needed, and if so, what route it should take.

"This bill pre-empts the long-standing PUC process, which has been established in law, and which has been used for years to make those complex and controversial decisions," Dayton said in a letter Kurt Daudt, R-Crown, speaker of the house.

The legislation would also disregard the input of "thousands of Minnesotans who have participated in the [regulatory] process," including by attending public meetings and hearings, Dayton wrote.

The bill was introduced by Republican legislators who said the PUC process has taken too long and that construction of a new Line 3 would provide an economic spark in northern Minnesota. The $2.6 billion project is expected to create more than 4,000 construction jobs, as well as ancillary economic activity.

Opponents of the legislation said it was simply and end-run around the PUC.

Enbridge's existing Line 3 pipeline, which transports Canadian oil to the company's terminal in Superior, Wis., is aging, corroding and operating at just over half of its capacity due to safety concerns. Calgary-based Enbridge wants to replace Line 3 with a new pipeline that would run on a new route.

Environmental groups and American Indian bands oppose the pipeline and the new route, saying it would open a new region of lakes, rivers and wild rice waters to degradation from possible oil spills.

Mike Hughlett • 612-673-7003

about the writer

about the writer

Mike Hughlett

Reporter

Mike Hughlett covers energy and other topics for the Star Tribune, where he has worked since 2010. Before that he was a reporter at newspapers in Chicago, St. Paul, New Orleans and Duluth.

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