Dayton Says He’d Veto Pipeline Replacement

St. Paul, MN (MNN/Learfield) -   Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton says he would veto a bill allowing a Canadian-based Enbridge Energy to bypass Minnesota regulators and build a replacement for an aging pipeline.

Dayton said Friday the energy firm's seven-and-a-half billion dollar Line 3 pipeline replacement should be vetted by the Public Utilities Commission before it gets approval to begin construction.

The G-O-P-controlled House amended a jobs and energy bill Thursday to allow Enbridge to skirt regulators. The pipeline currently runs just under 11-hundred miles from Alberta, Canada, edging the northeast corner of North Dakota and traverses northern Minnesota on its way to Superior, Wisconsin.

Opponents oppose the route for environmental reasons. The route is full of forests and waters susceptible to damage from an oil spill. The area also includes treaty lands and waters where Ojibwe bands harvest wild rice.