New layer added to Enbridge Line 3 permitting

The state is giving more scrutiny to the Enbridge Line 3 replacement project’s environmental review, as the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission has asked a second administrative law judge to ensure the adequacy of that massive document.
In an order released Monday, the PUC set Sept. 25 as the deadline for public comments on the adequacy of the final environmental impact statement, and set Dec. 11 as the latest the commission could decide on the adequacy.
If the review needs to be expanded or rewritten it could throw a wrench into Enbridge’s plans to bring the $6.5 billion oil pipeline online by 2019. Construction on the pipeline replacement has already begun in Canada and Wisconsin.
The final environmental impact statement is set to be released to the public on Thursday after it was delayed a week by Gov. Mark Dayton in the wake of the thousands of public comments received on the draft impact statement this spring and summer.
April 30 is still the target for the PUC to decide whether or not to permit the pipeline, which would take a largely new route across Minnesota between Alberta and the Enbridge terminal in Superior.