Tar Sands Battle Comes to Minn. as Groups File Suit to Block 'Illegal' Pipeline Scheme

The growing battle to halt the development of the Canadian tar sands is headed for a federal courtroom in Minnesota.

A coalition of organizations, including national and northern Minnesota-based groups have joined forces in a legal action to head off what they claim is an end-around of federal law by Enbridge, a major pipeline operator in the state.

According to a lawsuit filed this week in Federal District Court in Minneapolis, the groups claim that Enbridge and the U.S. State Department colluded in allowing the company to install a new section of pipeline across the U.S.-Canadian border prior to completion of an environmental review process.

While the new section of pipeline enters the U.S. in northeastern North Dakota, the company’s plans to ship as much as 800,000 barrels per day (bpd) of bitumen from Alberta through northern Minnesota to refineries in Superior, Wis., is raising concerns among Indian tribes in the region as well as environmentalists.

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