ST. PAUL – State Rep. Dale Lueck, R-Aitkin, issued the following statement regarding Tuesday’s vote by the Public Utilities Commission to deny the Gov. Tim Walz administration’s petition to reconsider replacement of the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline. This is the third vote the PUC has taken to upholding the certificate of need decision made last summer.
“This recent unanimous decision by the PUC rejecting Gov. Walz’s effort to derail this project is good news for the environment and public safety,” Lueck said. “Line 3 is old and long overdue for replacement. Every day the governor wastes trying to derail this project he puts the environment at unnecessary risk. Does he really think crude oil unit trains running through our small towns in Aitkin and Crow Wing counties every couple of hours is in the best interest of public safety? The decision was made to replace the pipeline last summer. Let’s get on with it.”
Lueck said the rejection of the Department of Commerce’s petition to reconsider the PUC’s decision to replace the pipeline is a clear defeat for the Walz Administration. He added that it remains to be seen what impact, if any, this latest rejection will have on the Department of Commerce’s involvement in ongoing legal action appealing a court decision that had dismissed a lawsuit challenging the PUC decision to replace Line 3.
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