Minnesota Regulators Set Meetings For Oil Pipelines

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota regulators plan a dozen public meetings on Enbridge Energy's proposed Sandpiper oil pipeline across northern Minnesota and its plan to replace its Line 3 pipeline.

The meetings will deal with the scope of an upcoming environmental review. Sandpiper would carry North Dakota light crude to Enbridge's terminal in Superior, Wisconsin, while the Line 3 replacement would carry Canadian tar sands oil to Superior, sharing much of the same route as Sandpiper.

Regulators have prepared a draft laying out what the environmental review would cover and a tentative schedule. The Public Utilities Commission will use the review in deciding if the pipelines are needed and what route they should take.

The meetings run from April 15-May 11 in communities along the planned route, and May 9 in St. Paul.