Three environmental groups plus the Red Lake and White Earth Bands have filed a court challenge after the state Public Utilities Commission approved Enbridge’s controversial Line 3 pipeline upgrade through northern Minnesota. Margaret Levin with the Sierra Club’s North Star Chapter says, “The Public Utilities Commission failed Minnesotans by approving the pipeline. In doing that, they sided with Enbridge, allowing them to run more dirty tar sands through some of our most precious natural and cultural resources.” Backers of the Line 3 project respond it’s received rigorous environmental review.
Governor Mark Dayton has also strongly criticized regulators’ decision but has not yet said whether he’ll challenge it. Levin says, “We certainly hope that the governor will do everything in his power in these final days of his administration to stop the pipeline and make sure these arguments and considerations are thoroughly addressed.”
More in this interview with MNN’s Bill Werner: