Enbridge plan to replace aging pipeline draws strong support at Grand Rapids hearing

GRAND RAPIDS, Minn. — An oil company's plan to replace an aging pipeline with a new route found strong support Tuesday, Oct. 10, during an afternoon hearing in Grand Rapids.

Enbridge has proposed to replace its 50-year-old Line 3 pipeline, a 1,031-mile route from Hardisty, Alberta, to Superior, Wis., that crosses through a handful of Minnesota counties.

The project, which has cleared the state draft Environmental Impact Statement and comment period, is going through a new round of public hearings after the Minnesota Department of Commerce weighed in on the project in September, saying the state was "better off" if the company ceased operations on the old line without replacing it.

A large crowd of mostly Enbridge supporters, workers and executives filed into the IRA Civic Center in Grand Rapids clad in lime green shirts to back the project. It was the fifth of 18 public hearings at nine locations. Another hearing was scheduled for Tuesday night at the Civic Center in Grand Rapids.

Read the full story in the Superior Telegram