Once again the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission has ruled in favor of the Enbridge Line 3 replacement project. Forced to revisit the certificate for need and requests for reconsideration, the commission expressed frustrations with the challenge from the Department of Commerce at the urging of Governor Walz and as Commissioner Katie Sieben stated, “For the department to argue that the commission should ignore the current condition of the very infrastructure that is to be replaced is nonsensical. Further, the alternative was to have oil cross Minnesota in a corroded pipe, and in rail cars and on highways.”
RAMS is grateful for the use of common sense applied by the commission in ruling that Enbridge has met the requirements for the certificate of need and will not reconsider that finding.
When a company in good faith comes forth and is prepared and willing to invest $2.6 billion for the installation of a new, safer, sturdier pipeline that will replace a pipeline that is over 50 years old and is known to be rusting and failing, common sense would lead us to believe that is a project we need to support and do all we can to have it done as timely as can be following our regulatory processes.
Permits still need to be secured, environmental review and monitoring will take place throughout the project and Enbridge is prepared to follow all regulations and requirements. Nearly 6,500 jobs will be created during the construction of the pipeline project with Minnesotans given a priority for hiring. Reducing truck and rail traffic carrying crude oil across our state is in everyone’s best interest. Thanks again to the Minnesota Public Utility Commission for their wise and prudent decision.
Steve Giorgi,
Executive Director
Range Association of Municipalities &
Schools sgiorgi@ramsmn.org
Range Association of Municipalities and Schools (RAMS) represents more than 75,000 residents and 54 public sector units of government, including 26 cities, 16 public school districts and 12 townships, in the 13,00-square-mile Taconite Assistance Area (TAA) of northeast Minnesota. As an organization, RAMS has represented the interests of the Iron Range region for over 75 years.
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