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ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota regulators appeared ready Thursday to approve Enbridge Inc.’s proposal to replace its aging Line 3 oil pipeline across the northern part of the state, even though a major, controversial question remains unresolved: the line’s route.

As the Public Utilities Commission began open deliberations, all five members spoke in support of the project, but some with heavy trepidation. Several commissioners cited the deteriorating condition of the existing line, which was built in the 1960s, as a major factor.

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“It’s irrefutable that that pipeline is an accident waiting to happen,” Commissioner Dan Lipschultz said. “It feels like a gun to our head … All I can say is the gun is real and it’s loaded.”

“I think it’s clear where we’re all going,” Commissioner John Tuma said. “It’s just a matter of working out the details.”

Some pipeline opponents reacted angrily as commissioners prepared to break ahead of an expected vote later Thursday. An Indigenous woman stood and shouted, “You have just declared war on the Ojibwe!” Brent Murcia, of the group Youth Climate Intervenors, added: “We will not let this stand.”