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Minn. agency ordered to review spill impact in Enbridge Line 3 study

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Minn. agency ordered to review spill impact in Enbridge Line 3 study

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission ordered the state's Department of Commerce to add analysis of the potential impacts of an oil spill in the Lake Superior watershed to an environmental study for Enbridge Inc.'s Line 3 crude oil pipeline expansion project.

The Department of Commerce was given 60 days to file an amended environmental impact statement under the Oct. 1 order.

The Minnesota commission issued the order in response to a June court ruling that found the regulator needed to include potential impacts on the lake as part of its approval of the project. The commission decided to order the other state agency to conduct the review in a 5-0 vote, spokesman Dan Wolf said in an email. A written order formalizing the action will be issued "in the coming days," he said.

Enbridge wants to replace the 1960s-vintage line that stretches between the oil sands region of Alberta and its pipeline hub in Superior, Wis., and restore it to its original capacity of about 720,000 barrels per day. The original line has been running at half capacity since the company voluntarily reduced pressure in the wake of a 2010 oil spill in Michigan. The 1,097-mile replacement project is complete in Canada and Wisconsin, but it has met opposition from politicians, Native Americans and environmental groups in Minnesota.

The company has proposed a new route for the line through Minnesota, because the line shares a right of way with other conduits that make up the company's mainline system, making replacement difficult without shutting down Line 3 and adjacent pipes.

The expansion program was reluctantly approved by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission in June, 2018. Gov. Tim Walz, an outspoken opponent of the expansion, ordered the Department of Commerce to launch appeals of the decision. Enbridge would like to complete the project, the most expensive in its history at an estimated C$5.3 billion for the Canadian portion and US$2.9 billion for the U.S. leg, and have it in service in late 2020. The company has already secured the permits it needs for construction through a short stretch of North Dakota.