Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office Reimbursed for Expenses Involving Line 3 Pipeline

The Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office received a reimbursement totaling over $170,000 from the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission Line 3 escrow account for extra training and equipment the department has had to purchase due to the construction of the Line 3 pipeline.

All expenses incurred from these mutual aid requests were reimbursed by the PUC. Other reimbursements received from the PUC included $107,620 in personnel protective equipment and nearly $50,935 in wage reimbursements related to training and planning.

The Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office has submitted reimbursement requests from the PUC totaling $206,580. $23,130 of those expenses have been initially denied, and $12,927 are still pending reimbursement. Preparation for Line 3 began in 2016 and all related expenses were within the Sheriff’s Office budget.  Potentially having all expenses reimbursed by the PUC is being fiscally responsible to Beltrami County taxpayers.