Underground Construction - October 2021 - 7

NEWSLINE LATEST INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS
Enbridge to Pay $3 Million
for Groundwater Leak During
Pipeline Construction
Minnesota regulators have ordered Enbridge
to pay more than $3 million for allegedly violating
state environmental law by piercing a groundwater
aquifer during construction of the Line 3 oil
pipeline replacement.
The state Department of Natural Resources
(DNR) said Enbridge, while working near
Clearbrook in January, dug too deeply into the
ground and pierced an artesian aquifer, which
resulted in a 24 million-gallon groundwater leak.
It wasn't until mid-June that the DNR discovered
something was wrong, when independent
construction monitors reported water pooling in
the pipeline trench near Clearbrook.
The DNR ordered Enbridge to put $2.7 million
into escrow for restoration and damage to nearby
wetlands. Enbridge is also required to pay $300,000
to mitigate the lost groundwater and $250,000 for
long-term monitoring of the wetlands.
Enbridge's 340-mile Line 3 replacement pipeline
will carry Canadian crude across northern Minnesota
to the company's terminal in Superior, Wisconsin.
The pipeline, opposed by environmental groups
and some Ojibwe tribes, is nearly complete.
Water Ruling Reinstates
Federal Protections Over
Some Waterways
A federal judge in Arizona last month tossed a
rule that limited the types of U.S. waters qualifying
for federal protection under the Clean Water Act.
The judge's order, which applies nationwide, says
the rule enacted under former President Donald
Trump improperly limited the scope of clean
water protections.
The rule, fi nalized last year, had long been
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sought by developers, farmers and others who
complained about federal overreach that they
said stretched into gullies, creeks and ravines on
farmland and other private property. Environmental
groups said the rule allowed businesses to dump
pollutants into unprotected waterways and fi ll in
some wetlands, threatening downstream public
water supplies and harming wildlife.
U.S. District Judge Rosemary Marquez wrote
in her order that the rule disregards established
science and the advice of government experts in
excluding smaller waterways from protection. It fails
to look closely enough at the eff ect of those small
waterways on larger waterways, she wrote.
Marquez's ruling came in a challenge brought by
six Native American tribes, who said the Trump rule
defi ed the law's environmental focus. If an appeal is
fi led, her ruling could be put on hold.
EPA Orders Illinois City
to Fix Overfl ow-Prone Sewers
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
has ordered offi cials in a southwestern Illinois city
to address problems with the community's sewers
blamed for at least 28 sewer overfl ows since January.
The EPA's order mandates that the city of
Cahokia Heights submit plans to control sanitary
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Underground Construction - October 2021

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