Line 3 Pipeline Decision Expected This Week

State regulators reconvene this week to decide whether to approve or reject Enbridge Energy’s proposal for replacing its Line 3 oil pipeline across northern Minnesota.

The Public Utilities Commission meets Tuesday so its members can resume questioning Enbridge officials as well as other supporters and opponents of the project. The panel could then deliberate as long as until Friday before making its decision.

The Line 3 pipeline was built in the 1960s and runs from Alberta across North Dakota and Minnesota to Superior, WI. Enbridge says it needs replacing to ensure safety and restore capacity because the existing pipeline is increasingly subject to corrosion and cracking. But climate change and tribal activists object because it would carry Canadian tar sands crude and risk spills in pristine waters where Native Americans harvest wild rice.