Alberta Clipper
Enbridge wants to build a 1,000-mile pipeline to transport crude oil from the Alberta Oil Sands to Superior, Wisconsin. The 36-inch Alberta Clipper Pipeline would carry up to 450,000 barrels of crude oil a day from Hardisty, Alberta (Canada) to refineries in the United States — primarily in the Midwest.
Graphic: Minnesota Public Radio/Enbridge.
Click for larger image.
In the United States, the Alberta Clipper Pipeline would extend 326 miles from the U.S.-Canadian border near Neche, North Dakota across northern Minnesota to an Enbridge terminal in Superior, Wisconsin.
Status of the Pipeline
Construction of the Canadian section of the pipeline is already underway.
In the U.S. the project has been approved by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, although that approval is being challenged, and still needs approval from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
Because the Alberta Clipper Project crosses the U.S.-Canadian border, a Presidential Permit is required from the U.S. Department of State before the project can proceed in the United States.
Unfortunately, the State Department issued the permit. But members of the dirtyoilsands.org network have challenged that decision in court.
More Information
- Enbridge’s Alberta Clipper website
- Department of State’s permit of the Alberta Clipper pipeline. Also, Enbridge’s application, and the Record of Decision explaining the rationale for the permit.
