On Friday, September 27, 2019 The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) issued a denial of Enbridge’s Line 3 Replacement Project’s 401 Water Quality Certification (WQC). The action was expected since the MPCA is prohibited by State law from issuing a final 401 WQC until the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) has been revised to reflect the June 3, 2019 Court of Appeals decision. An EIS is a document that helps with decision making on the State level and describes the positive and negative environmental effects of a proposed project.

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission will be initiating steps to revise Line 3’s EIS with spill modeling as directed by the Court of Appeals and has scheduled a meeting to confirm the path moving forward on October 1, 2019.

Enbridge is anticipating submitting an updated and revised 401 application in the near future. Better In Our Back Yard is encouraged by Enbridge’s confidence that today’s action by the MPCA will not negatively impact the project’s status or timeline.

Minnesota’s portion of Line 3, which spans 330 miles, is the last portion of Line 3 that has yet to be replaced and is therefore the only portion of Line 3 that is currently not achieving the latest safety standards. The replacement of Line 3 is the most studied pipeline project in Minnesota’s history. With four years of study and environmental review, Better In Our Back Yard is proud to support the replacement of Line 3.