Washington, DC -- Today, the State Department granted a cross-border permit for Enbridge’s Line 67, or Alberta Clipper, tar sands pipeline expansion. Since 2015, Enbridge has already been moving an expanded amount of tar sands across the border, since the company connected Line 67 to the nearby Line 3 tar sands pipeline. This scheme allowed them to bypass State’s environmental review because Line 3’s original cross-border permit was older and did not specify a maximum capacity.

Today’s approval allows Enbridge to stop using this workaround. However, unless the company’s proposed Line 3 expansion is approved by Minnesota regulators, it will not increase the amount of tar sands being shipped through the state. The proposed Line 3 expansion project has been met with enormous opposition from Minnesota communities and tribes, as well as the state’s Department of Commerce, which recently recommended that the project be rejected.

Kelly Martin, Director of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Dirty Fuels Campaign, issued the following statement in response:

“Today’s approval of a dirty tar sands project is far from a surprise given the Trump administration’s commitment to propping up the fossil fuel industry above all else. But the ultimate decision on this reckless expansion project won’t be made in Washington -- it will be made in Minnesota, and Minnesotans have made it clear that they do not want Enbridge running more dirty tar sands through their state. Despite Trump’s best efforts, communities across the country will not back down in their fights against dangerous fossil fuel projects.”