Minnesota court refuses tribes’ request to stop construction of Canada’s Enbridge oil pipeline

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Court of Appeals on Tuesday denied a request by two American Indian tribes to shut down construction of a contentious crude oil pipeline project in northern Minnesota.

Opponents of the Enbridge Line 3 oil pipeline replacement project, led by the Red Lake Band of Chippewa and White Earth Band of Ojibwe, said in their petition that construction would destroy land that is protected by treaty agreements and would violate cultural and religious rights.

The replacement line has a price tag of $2.9-billion in the U.S., and $5.3-billion in Canada for the remaining segments between Hardisty, Alberta and Superior, Wis.

Canadian oil giant Enbridge Energy said the petition had no merit and did not “recognize the exhaustive and meticulous review” of the project.

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission on Dec. 9 denied the tribes’ motion to halt construction and on Dec. 23 denied a petition for reconsideration of that decision. Other cases seeking to halt the project remain in the appeals court and the tribes had asked the court to intervene in the meantime.

Line 3 starts in Alberta, Canada, and clips a corner of North Dakota before crossing northern Minnesota en route to Enbridge’s terminal in Superior, Wisconsin. The 337-mile (542-kilometer) line in Minnesota is the last step in replacing the deteriorating pipeline that was built in the 1960s.

Construction began in early December