ST. PAUL – State Rep. Matt Bliss, R-Pennington, said he supports the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission’s move Thursday to both approve a certificate of need for replacing the aging Line 3 pipeline and agree to follow much of the preferred route across the northern third of Minnesota.
“It’s nice to make more progress on replacing the old pipeline,” Bliss said. “This is a big step forward and it is good to see we have arrived at the proper decision on this phase of the project. The old pipeline absolutely must be replaced and this approval was needed for us to move oil in the safest way, protecting the environment and providing economic benefits in our area and beyond.”
The new $2.6 billion Line 3 is set to replace the original pipeline, which was installed in the 1960s and is deteriorating, operating at around half of its capacity of 760,000 barrels per day due to safety reasons.
The new Line 3 could have a capacity of 844,000 barrels, stretching 340 miles across Minnesota from Alberta to the Enbridge terminal in Superior, Wis. Most of the path approved by the PUC follows Enbridge’s preferred route, with a modification to avoid Big Sandy Lake, nine miles north of McGregor in Aitkin County.
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