The US administration has indicated in a court filing that it does not intend to revoke federal permits for the Line 3 Replacement Project, a large oil pipeline project whose construction will move forward and is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2021. According to the US Department of Justice, the US Army Corps of Engineers’ water permit for the project followed its legal obligation to consider the project’s environmental impacts.
The Canadian energy transportation company Enbridge aims at replacing an existing 1,660 km long crude oil pipeline originally installed in the 1960s, that extends from Edmonton in Alberta (Canada) to Superior in Wisconsin (United States), with the objective to increase the transport capacity of light, medium and heavy crude oil by 370,000 bbl/d, from the current 390,000 bbl/d to 760,000 bbl/d. The project has been delayed since 2017 due to the opposition of First Nations and environmental groups in Manitoba (Canada) and Minnesota (United States). Enbridge has already completed the Canadian section of oil pipeline, which runs across Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, for US$4bn (commercial operation in December 2019). In November 2020, the US Army Corps of Engineers, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency approved the project and construction of the US section, crossing North Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin at a cost of US$2.9bn, started in December 2020. In June 2021, the Minnesota Court of Appeals (United States) has confirmed the environmental impact statement (EIS), certificate of need and route permit for the project.