As utility regulators reconvene Tuesday to determine the fate of Enbridge's controversial oil-pipeline proposal, the parties are still at work making their cases.
Ads and opinion pieces ran in newspapers, and Enbridge announced more details about its recent deal-sweetening commitments.
Meanwhile, Gov. Mark Dayton has been meeting privately with Minnesota tribal leaders and law enforcement agencies.
The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) started its final hearings on a Line 3 replacement last week, and is expected by Friday to decide whether to grant a permit for the $2.6 billion project.
Calgary, Alberta-based Enbridge wants to replace its Line 3, an aging and corroding pipeline that runs across northern Minnesota to the company's terminal in Superior, Wis. Line 3 is one of six Enbridge pipelines in the same corridor that transport Canadian oil to Midwestern markets, as well as to the Gulf Coast.
The current Line 3 operates at only 51 percent capacity due to safety concerns. Enbridge said a new pipeline, which would restore full oil flow to 760,000 barrels per day, is a necessary safety upgrade.
Environmentalists and several American Indian tribes oppose the new pipeline, saying it will spur climate change and open a new region of lakes, rivers and wild rice waters to degradation from possible oil spills.
Enbridge's proposed new Line 3 would run along its current route to Clearbrook, Minn., then jog south to Park Rapids before heading east to Superior.