Administrative judge backs Sandpiper oil pipeline route

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - An administrative judge is siding with Enbridge Energy on its route for a new pipeline to carry North Dakota crude oil across northern Minnesota.

Environmentalists opposed the route running from the North Dakota border to Clearbrook, Minnesota, for the $2.6 billion Sandpiper pipeline.

The Z-shaped route runs through a region of lakes and wetlands, and much of it is unpopulated. After getting to Clearbrook, the pipeline would go south toward Park Rapids and then east to Superior.

The Star Tribune (https://strib.mn/1GGCcZ7 ) reports the ruling by Judge Eric Lipman on Monday is not the final say on the route. It’s a recommendation to the state Public Utilities Commission, which has authority over crude oil pipeline development in Minnesota.

Opponents of the pipeline route said there was a risk for spills, and they suggested six other routes. Lipman said alternate routes weren’t as good, and that Enbridge’s proposal “does the best job of minimizing potential impacts to human populations and environmental resources.”

“Everyone agrees that an oil spill in Aitkin County or Carlton County would be very bad,” Lipman wrote in a 104-page ruling. “Whether it would be better, or less likely, for a pipeline to break in another community, nobody can say for sure.”

Lipman said denying Enbridge a certificate of need for the project would also have a negative effect on “the future adequacy, reliability and efficiency of energy supply” in Minnesota and elsewhere.

The ruling was applauded by unions and business interests, including the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce. Attorneys for environmental groups vowed to keep fighting.

“We are concerned that the state is moving forward with a decision of this magnitude without the proper environmental review,” said attorney Leigh Currie, who is representing a group in the Park Rapids area that opposes the pipeline.

North Dakota has approved its portion of the 610-mile pipeline from the Bakken oil region.

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Information from: Star Tribune, https://www.startribune.com