State to hold hearings on oil pipeline

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is planning to hold a pair of public hearings on Enbridge Energy Partner's plans to build a crude oil pipeline from North Dakota to Superior.

The proposed Sandpiper project calls for building a new 30-inch diameter pipeline from North Dakota's Bakken Shale region through Minnesota to Superior. The project also includes replacing an existing pipeline known as Line 3. Both pipelines would cross about 14 miles of land in the town, village and city of Superior to the company's terminal in the city.

The DNR has scheduled two public hearings on the project's draft environmental impact statement on March 10 at the Superior Public Library.

The first hearing is set to begin at 4:30 p.m. The second will start at 6:30 p.m.

Enbridge has a track record that includes more than 800 pipeline spills since 1999 in its Lakehead System and more than 100 wetland violations during the construction of Wisconsin's "Line 61" pipeline, as well as being responsible for the 2010 tar sands spill in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The Michigan spill was the largest inland oil spill in U.S. history.

Sandpiper pipeline project …

Type: Crude oil pipeline
Status: Proposed
Length: 616 miles
Expected initial capacity: 250,000 barrels per day between Tioga and Berthold, ND; 225,000 bpd between Berthold and Clearbrook; 375,000 bpd between Clearbrook and Superior.
Estimated to transport: Light Bakken crude
Estimated capital cost: $2.6 billion