Need for Disputed Pipeline Argued in Minnesota Appeals Court

(AP Photo/Jim Mone, File)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Court of Appeals has heard arguments over Enbridge Energy’s Line 3 replacement project in northern Minnesota, which opponents are calling unnecessary due to an eventual decline in the demand for oil.

The Minnesota Department of Commerce, along with the Red Lake Band of Chippewa, the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, and several Indigenous and environmental groups, argued before the three-judge panel that Enbridge failed to show the long-term need for the Line 3 project.

The state’s independent Public Utilities Commission granted the company a certificate of need after Enbridge demonstrated demand to transport crude oil, not a demand for the crude oil itself, said Katherine Hinderlie, an attorney for the Commerce Department.

The Calgary, Alberta-based company broke ground on the replacement pipeline in December after receiving a construction stormwater permit from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals heard arguments Tuesday and is expected to issue a decision by June.