Public Comment on Sandpiper Pipeline (near Long Lake) Sought by PUC

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has just announced public hearings on whether there is a NEED for the first of the proposed oil pipelines, called Sandpiper (black line in map).  Members of the public can ask questions and comment at hearings scheduled for the week Jan 5-9, to be held in St Paul, Duluth, Bemidji, Crookston, and St. Cloud.  The PUC has the final say on this matter.

Comments can also be made on-line from December 8th through January 23rd here:  https://minnesotapuc.granicusideas.com/discussions/north-dakota-pipeline-company-llc-application-for-a-certificate-of-need-for-the-sandpiper-pipeline-project-in-minnesota-cn-13-473 or (if unobtainable) go to https://minnesotapuc.granicusideas.com/discussions and scroll way down to “North Dakota Pipeline Co”.

The Department of Commerce is also preparing an environmental analysis which may be issued in December.  So far there has been much evidence presented on how an oil leak could permeate through the aquifer to contaminate agricultural and private wells, shown in the map below.  Read the recent article in the Detroit Lakes Newspapers and reprinted in the Park Rapids Enterprise:  HubbardCOLAmn.org_article_park_rapids_enterprise_10-8-2014  and see http://www.friendsoftheheadwaters.org/ and http://www.hubbardcolamn.org/sandpiper-pipeline.html

Friends of the Headwaters (FOH) is now represented by the legal team at the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (MCEA).  The Hubbard County Coalition of Lake Associations agrees with FOH on the importance of relocating the Sandpiper Pipeline Route away from our lake country's natural resources.