The State Department has granted Enbridge Energy a presidential permit for the final piece of its project to boost the capacity of its Alberta Clipper oil pipeline.
State Department officials will come to Minnesota on Tuesday to hold the only public meeting on a draft environmental review for the final segment of Enbridge Energy's project to boost capacity in its Alberta Clipper pipeline, which carries Canadian tar sands oil across northern Minnesota to Superior, Wis.
After a four-year review, the U.S. State Department on Friday said it does not believe there would be significant negative environmental impact from a Canadian company's plan to boost the capacity of an oil pipeline that crosses the U.S. border in northeastern North Dakota.
A federal judge rejected the key parts of a lawsuit brought by tribal and environmental groups that sought to block a capacity expansion on the Alberta Clipper crude oil pipeline, saying Wednesday that the courts don't have the authority to intervene at this stage.
A federal judge heard conflicting arguments Thursday on whether he should block a capacity expansion on the Alberta Clipper oil pipeline or allow a temporary workaround that lets Enbridge Energy move hundreds of thousands of barrels per day of Canadian tar sands crude across the border without triggering the kind of environmental review that has held up the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.
Tribal and environmental groups are suing the U.S. State Department for approving a plan by a Canadian pipeline company to increase the flow of crude oil from Alberta into Minnesota.
An administrative law judge on Thursday recommended that Minnesota regulators approve an expansion of Enbridge Energy's Alberta Clipper crude oil pipeline across northern Minnesota.