Star Tribune
Editorial Board
…Replacement of the pipe has become entangled in a bureaucratic, environmental quagmire that now has delayed the project a full year and sparked a battle in which Gov. Tim Walz allowed his Commerce Department to continue to challenge the Public Utilities Commission on its unanimous decision to issue a certificate of need. Shortly after, Enbridge announced the delay.
That means another year of risk to the communities whose property the old line runs through. Worse still, even higher rail shipments of oil. Without additional pipeline capacity, such shipments have hit historic highs. That oil travels through some of the most densely populated areas of the state, posing a potential environmental disaster should there be a derailment.