MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - An administrative judge is siding with Enbridge Energy on its route for a new pipeline to carry North Dakota crude oil across northern Minnesota.
Environmentalists opposed the route running from the North Dakota border to Clearbrook, Minnesota, for the $2.6 billion Sandpiper pipeline. The Z-shaped route runs through a region of lakes and wetlands.
The ruling by Judge Eric Lipman on Monday is not the final say on the route. It's a recommendation to the state Public Utilities Commission which has authority over crude oil pipeline development in Minnesota.
North Dakota has approved its portion of the 610-mile pipeline from the Bakken oil region.