As Canada fights over Trans Mountain, Enbridge’s most expensive project — Line 3 — inches towards completion
It’s the largest project in the history of Enbridge, itself the largest oil and gas pipeline company in North America. If completed as planned in mid-2019, it will boost oilsands export capacity by 375,000 barrels per day — over half of what the Trans Mountain Expansion will add.
But it’s likely you’ve never heard of Line 3.
“A lot of people don’t even know it exists,” said Laura Cameron, a community organizer with the Manitoba Energy Justice Coalition, in an interview with The Narwhal. “There just hasn’t been very much conversation".
Alberta, to Superior, Wisconsin.
Due to the age and jeopardized quality of the existing pipeline, capacity of Line 3 has been cut in half. Installing a new and slightly wider pipe means that the company can return it to original levels.
In an era of hotly contested oilsands pipelines, Line 3 hasn’t received much attention.
“They wanted this one to happen quietly and under the radar,” said Adam Scott, senior advisor at Oil Change International, in an interview with The Narwhal.
The Line 3 replacement project: what you need to know
On the Canadian side, Line 3 runs from near Edmonton to the Manitoban bordertown of Gretna, crossing Saskatchewan near Regina on the way.
Once it crosses the 49th parallel, the pipeline travels through the upper northeast corner of North Dakota before charging through 542 kilometres of Minnesota and concluding at the mouth of Lake Superior in Wisconsin.
From there, oil can be transported to refineries across the continent.
The new project requires the installation of 18 new pump stations and three new storage terminals in Alberta.
Line 3 was given the go-ahead by the federal government in late November 2016, at the same time Trans Mountain was approved and after the plug was pulled on Enbridge’s beleaguered Northern Gateway pipeline.
The project passed the final major regulatory hurdle in June after being approved by Minnesota’s Public Utilities Board after a lengthy delay.
The existing pipeline will be decommissioned and left in the ground. This concerns many who argue that it could represent an environmental liability for decades to come.
Cameron of the Manitoba Energy Justice Coalition said the abandoned line “has the potential to damage local environments through metal deteriorating and making farmland pretty unstable.”
In an e-mail, Enbridge spokesperson Juli Kellner wrote: “Enbridge will continue to monitor the deactivated pipeline and maintain the right-of-way. Independent engineering research and analysis have determined that deactivated pipelines with adequate cover will have a very long life as load-bearing structures, even after decades of deactivation. Environmental regulatory requirements prohibit altering current hydrology. Therefore, the Line 3 deactivation process will protect water resources to ensure that the deactivated pipeline will not drain any fields, lakes, rivers, streams or other wetland areas.”
https://thenarwhal.ca/the-mega-oilsands-pipeline-youve-never-heard-of/
It’s the largest project in the history of Enbridge, itself the largest oil and gas pipeline company in North America. If completed as planned in mid-2019, it will boost oilsands export capacity by 375,000 barrels per day — over half of what the Trans Mountain Expansion will add.
But it’s likely you’ve never heard of Line 3.
“A lot of people don’t even know it exists,” said Laura Cameron, a community organizer with the Manitoba Energy Justice Coalition, in an interview with The Narwhal. “There just hasn’t been very much conversation".
Alberta, to Superior, Wisconsin.
Due to the age and jeopardized quality of the existing pipeline, capacity of Line 3 has been cut in half. Installing a new and slightly wider pipe means that the company can return it to original levels.
In an era of hotly contested oilsands pipelines, Line 3 hasn’t received much attention.
“They wanted this one to happen quietly and under the radar,” said Adam Scott, senior advisor at Oil Change International, in an interview with The Narwhal.
The Line 3 replacement project: what you need to know
On the Canadian side, Line 3 runs from near Edmonton to the Manitoban bordertown of Gretna, crossing Saskatchewan near Regina on the way.
Once it crosses the 49th parallel, the pipeline travels through the upper northeast corner of North Dakota before charging through 542 kilometres of Minnesota and concluding at the mouth of Lake Superior in Wisconsin.
From there, oil can be transported to refineries across the continent.
The new project requires the installation of 18 new pump stations and three new storage terminals in Alberta.
Line 3 was given the go-ahead by the federal government in late November 2016, at the same time Trans Mountain was approved and after the plug was pulled on Enbridge’s beleaguered Northern Gateway pipeline.
The project passed the final major regulatory hurdle in June after being approved by Minnesota’s Public Utilities Board after a lengthy delay.
The existing pipeline will be decommissioned and left in the ground. This concerns many who argue that it could represent an environmental liability for decades to come.
Cameron of the Manitoba Energy Justice Coalition said the abandoned line “has the potential to damage local environments through metal deteriorating and making farmland pretty unstable.”
In an e-mail, Enbridge spokesperson Juli Kellner wrote: “Enbridge will continue to monitor the deactivated pipeline and maintain the right-of-way. Independent engineering research and analysis have determined that deactivated pipelines with adequate cover will have a very long life as load-bearing structures, even after decades of deactivation. Environmental regulatory requirements prohibit altering current hydrology. Therefore, the Line 3 deactivation process will protect water resources to ensure that the deactivated pipeline will not drain any fields, lakes, rivers, streams or other wetland areas.”
https://thenarwhal.ca/the-mega-oilsands-pipeline-youve-never-heard-of/
