Oil pipeline operator Enbridge is often at odds with Indian tribes over new pipelines — but not with the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, at least in one key respect.
In Minnesota regulatory filings Wednesday, both parties blasted a report recommending that Enbridge's proposed new Line 3 pipeline be built on its current route, which crosses the Leech Lake reservation.
Administrative Law Judge Ann O'Reilly last month issued a report concluding that Calgary, Alberta-based Enbridge needs a new oil pipeline to replace its aging and corroding Line 3.
But O'Reilly rejected Enbridge's proposed new route for Line 3. Instead, she concluded the pipeline's benefits would outweigh its costs only if old Line 3 was extracted and a new one built on the current route. O'Reilly acknowledged Leech Lake's opposition, but seemed to believe some sort of agreement could be worked out.
Leech Lake's filing said that notion is simply "wrong," and that O'Reilly's report "flatly ignores the band's status as a sovereign government," the filing said. "The band has consistently, and for multiple years, stated that it will not approve the Line 3 replacement pipeline across its reservation."
Wednesday was the deadline for filing responses to O'Reilly's report, a comprehensive review of thousands of pages of documents and comments from dozens of public and administrative hearings. The report is not binding; it offers recommendations instead.
The fate of Line 3, which has been winding through the regulatory process for over three years, is expected to be decided in June by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC).
Environmental groups and several Indian tribes, including Leech Lake, have opposed the need for any new oil pipeline across northern Minnesota.