Environmental and Tribal Intervenors Request Reconsideration of Line 3 Pipeline Approval

SAINT PAUL, MN -- Environmental and tribal parties to the Line 3 pipeline permitting case filed requests today urging the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to reconsider their approval of the Line 3 pipeline on the basis that the pipeline does not meet permit criteria. Earlier this month, the PUC issued their written order granting a Certificate of Need and Route for Enbridge Energy’s proposed Line 3 pipeline, which would carry 760,000 barrels per day of Canadian tar sands oil across northern Minnesota.

The PUC announced their decision to approve Line 3 in June. The pipeline has attracted significant public opposition due to the threat it poses to the Anishinaabe people who live and harvest wild rice along its route and the climate impact of expanding tar sands extraction. During the PUC’s public meetings, hundreds of Minnesotans packed the rooms to make their opposition known, many lining up as early as 4:30am to get in.

In today’s filings, the Sierra Club, Youth Climate Intervenors, Friends of the Headwaters, and Honor the Earth argue that the PUC was wrong to grant a Certificate of Need for Line 3 because the harm to society would outweigh the benefits, and Enbridge didn’t prove the pipeline was needed.

The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe and Minnesota Department of Commerce also filed Petitions for Reconsideration on the PUC’s decision today.

QUOTES:

"Line 3 would threaten our clean water, our communities, and our climate. In approving this pipeline, the PUC ignored the recommendations of multiple state agencies and prioritized the desires of a foreign pipeline company over the best interest of our state,” said Margaret Levin, State Director for the Sierra Club North Star Chapter. "We are calling on the PUC to listen to the wishes of Minnesota communities, reverse this terrible decision, and reject Line 3."

“The Public Utilities Commission made a rogue decision to approve the Line 3 project against the recommendations of the Department of Commerce, the Administrative Law Judge, the MN Pollution Control Agency and the Department of Natural Resources,” said Winona LaDuke, Executive Director of Honor the Earth. “This is crisis of civil society and we need the PUC to reconsider what this decision means for the future of Minnesota and the planet.”

“The Commission’s decision to approve Line 3 reeks of a loathsome combination of cowardice, willful ignorance, and racism. The Commission’s Order explicitly denies climate science and dismisses treaty rights as irrelevant to this case,” said the Youth Climate Intervenors in a statement. “We are demanding that they reconsider this appalling decision and side with science, indigenous communities, and future generations by rejecting Line 3.”

“The Northern Water Alliance supports the other applicants filings,” said Jim Reents of Northern Water Alliance (NWA did not file a Petition for Reconsideration of their own). “Northern Minnesota’s clean water and environment on which the local economy is based should not be at risk for private gain. We feel the PUC made decisions based upon inadequate information provided by the applicant. Revisiting their decisions will be in the best interest of all Minnesotans.”

LINKS:

Red Lake, White Earth, and Honor the Earth Petition for Reconsideration

Youth Climate Intervenors Petition for Reconsideration

Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Petition for Reconsideration

Friends of the Headwaters Petition for Reconsideration

Minnesota Department of Commerce Petition for Reconsideration