Regulators Appear Ready to Approve Pipeline

All Five Members Appeared to Support the Project

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Minnesota regulators appear ready to approve Enbridge Energy’s proposal to replace its aging Line 3 oil pipeline across northern Minnesota. But they haven’t yet tackled the big question of the route.

The Public Utilities Commission was set to vote Thursday afternoon after several days of hearings on the project. All five members appeared to support the project during a public meeting ahead of the vote.

But the route remains a big question. The current pipeline crosses two American Indian reservations whose tribes strongly oppose the project.

Enbridge has proposed a route that bypasses those reservations, but the tribes and climate change activists oppose that route, too.

Line 3 was built in the 1960s. Enbridge says it needs to replace the pipeline because it’s increasingly subject to corrosion and cracking.