Enbridge Energy announced Wednesday that construction of the Line 3 pipeline is complete.
The pipeline, designed to replace the existing 60-year-old Line 3, received its final approvals in Dec. 2020 and was under construction since, with a two-month pause in the spring.
The $2.9 billion project re-routed the original Line 3 after the Clearbrook terminal and used a 36-inch new pipe across 337 miles of Minnesota.
The full capacity of the pipeline is 760,000 barrels of crude oil a day.
The new Line 3 will become operational Friday, Oct. 1.
The Minnesota leg of the new line completes the 1,097 miles of pipeline from Edmonton, Alberta, to Superior, Wisconsin.
“After more than eight years of many people working together, extensive community engagement, and thorough environmental, regulatory and legal review, we are pleased that Line 3 is complete and will soon deliver the low cost and reliable energy that people depend on every day,” said Al Monaco, Enbridge President and CEO.
“From day one, this project has been about modernizing our system and improving safety and reliability for the benefit of communities, the environment and our customers.
“Line 3 was developed and executed with the most state-of-the-art approach to design, construction and environmental management,” he continued.
“We’re also very proud of the relationship of trust we’ve built with communities along the right-of-way in both Canada and the United States. Our goal is to continuously live up to the trust that all of our stakeholders have placed in us.”
The Line 3 project was faced with opposition from environmental and Indigenous groups, who felt the pipeline was unnecessary in a future they hope will be free from fossil fuels.
“This is not the outcome we hoped for, but the fight to stop Line 3 has always been a fight for climate justice and a future free from fossil fuels, and that fight will not stop just because Enbridge has succeeded in building this pipeline,” said Margaret Levin, Sierra Club North Star Chapter Director.
“Our movement is powerful, and we are not going anywhere. We will keep pushing forward– demanding that our elected leaders live up to their promises and lifting our voices for healthy and safe communities and climate justice.”
