The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has set the dates for oral arguments and deliberations on the Enbridge Line 3 tar sands crude oil pipeline. When the final vote takes place depends on the pace of deliberations. At this point, it appears the vote would happen no sooner than Wednesday, June 27.
Here is the PUC schedule on Line 3:
Monday, June 18, 2018 – Oral Arguments
Tuesday, June 19, 2018 – Oral Arguments
Tuesday, June 26, 2018 – Oral Arguments/Commission Deliberations
Wednesday, June 27, 2018 – Oral Arguments/Commission Deliberations
We will provide the specific times when we get them, but the PUC typically starts meeting in the morning. We expect that both pipeline proponents and water protectors will try to pack the room. Show up if you can.
Officially, the PUC will be voting on Line 3’s Certificate of Need (whether Enbridge made the case the new line is needed) and on its Route Permit (Enbridge has a preferred route but alternative routes have been evaluated).
It’s anybody’s guess which way the vote will go. Administrative Law Judge Ann O’Reilly took testimony on behalf of the PUC and issued her report last month. By her reckoning, the only way a new Enbridge Line 3 passes the “Needs” test is if Enbridge tears out the old line and rebuilds the new line in the same trench. That has the environmental and economic benefits of removing the old Line 3 Pipeline.
O’Reilly’s analysis runs counter to Enbridge’s plan to leave the old pipeline in the ground to rust and build a new pipeline along a new route.
Indigenous and environmental groups oppose any new pipeline. It would violate treaty rights, create climate change costs ($287 billion over 30 years); and pose huge crude oil spill risks for little if any benefit to the state.
Here are our recent posts on O’Reilly’s report:
- Enbridge’s Credibility Takes Major Hit in Judge’s Line 3 Report; PUC Must Reject Project
- Enbridge’s “Safety” Argument to Build a New Line 3 is as Flawed as its Pipeline
- Enbridge is a Decade Away from a Lease Crisis in Minnesota; Line 3 Reroute is its Escape Hatch
- Enbridge’s Secret: It Has Easements Allowing for More Pipelines in the New Corridor
- Line 3 Recommendations Puts Burden to Stop Line 3 Squarely on the Ojibwe
Come to the Block (Line 3) Party at the PUC!
Come join pipeline resisters and water protectors at the Block (Line 3) Party in St. Paul, Friday May 18 to Saturday May 19. (Healing Minnesota Stories is an event partner.)
This Block Party is one of our last opportunities before the June vote to educate one another about Line 3’s very real harms and show the PUC Commissioners that many, many Minnesotans oppose this potentially devastating project.
- Here is a link for the Facebook Event and the Event Website where you find the schedule of events.
- Here is a link to sign up to volunteer at the event.
Invite your friends and family to a weekend filled with lots of opportunities for connecting, sharing, and creating. Music, food and art are just a few of the highlights you’ll experience during our time together.
The Block Party will be held in front of Metro Square, 121 7th Place East, where the PUC has its offices.
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