Expected court challenge shouldn’t slow pipeline
CALGARY – Enbridge Inc. is months away from turning on the taps on the first meaningful new pipeline addition out of Canada in six years following a favourable court ruling in Minnesota.
In a 2-1 decision Monday that pipeline opponents have promised to appeal, Minnesota Court of Appeals upheld Calgary-based Enbridge’s permits to build the 670,000-barrels-per-day Line 3 pipeline replacement across the state. The favourable decision means that Enbridge will avoid another delay in completing the project, which is now expected to be in service in the fourth quarter of this year.
“We see this as the last key regulatory hurdle for the project,” Scotiabank analyst Robert Hope wrote in a Monday research note, which called the Minnesota court ruling “a sigh of relief.”
“While there are a number of other legal issues outstanding for the project, we do not expect them to slow the project’s completion,” Hope said.
In a note to clients last week, Hope had noted that regardless of the outcome, “we expect the issue will be appealed to the Supreme Court.”
The split appeals court decision upheld the pipeline’s certificate of need, route permit and environmental impact statement, which were granted by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission.
“These decisions were not made in a vacuum. Rather, they followed vigorous public debate,” Judge Lucinda Jesson wrote in the decision Monday.
If completed on schedule, the Line 3 project will mark the first time new pipes have been installed to move Canadian crude out of Western Canada since 2010, when Enbridge placed the Alberta Clipper pipeline into service and competitor TC Energy Corp. began flowing oil through the original Keystone pipeline.
Line 3 is designed to move 670,000 barrels of oil per day from Alberta to markets in the U.S. Midwest, and represents the largest addition to export pipeline volume out of Canada since Enbridge reversed its 300,000 bpd Line 9 pipeline in 2015.
The new Line 3 pipeline will replace an ageing pipeline along a similar route, which is currently shipping 370,000 bpd out of Western Canada.
“After six years of community engagement, environmental review, regulatory and legal review, it’s good to see confirmation of previous decisions on the Line 3 replacement project,” Enbridge executive vice-president and president of liquids pipelines Vern Yu said in a statement Monday.
Enbridge confirmed the Line 3 project is 60 per cent complete in Minnesota, which is the last jurisdiction where work is underway as the project is and already finished in Canada, Wisconsin and North Dakota.
“It means that there’s room for growth if companies wanted to do that,” said Phil Skolnick, a New York-based analyst with Eight Capital, adding Line 3 will result in 400,000 bpd of excess pipeline capacity out of Western Canada.
Enbridge’s stock ended the day 2.2 per cent higher to $49.37 per share in Toronto on Monday. Scotiabank has a $54 target for the company.
Environmental groups opposed to Line 3 have promised to continue fighting the project and could still launch an appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court. They were provided some reason for doing so in a dissenting opinion in the court ruling from Judge Peter Reyes.
In his dissent, Reyes says the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission “failed to evaluate societal costs — an estimated US$287 billion — to Minnesota.”
The Us$287-billion figure is based on estimates of the costs of emissions and the negative effects of climate change.
“Today’s court decision is a step backwards, but not the end of this years-long fight to protect the health and livability of our state and climate,” said Brent Murcia of the Youth Climate Internors, according to a Reuters report.
Last week environmental protesters clashed with police after occupying a pump station as they rallied against the pipeline in Minnesota, while Enbridge said it had evacuated 44 workers from its site.
When it comes to painting a room, Rosslyn Gillan is a wizard.
It all started when she was 18 years old and trying to avoid working at a fast food joint all summer. Instead, she and her brother helped to paint for a family friend, who owned a local inn at the time.
"That summer, we painted the outside and redid the upstairs apartment," says the Kentville woman.
“It was baptism by fire." The following summer, Gillan began working for College Pro Painters, a summer gig she held for a few years. That's where she received some formal painting training.
It's been a couple of decades, but Gillan has still painted every summer since then for family or friends, working around her schedule as an elementary school teacher.
Although Gillan has officially retired from painting, she has amassed a great deal of experience and passes on her top tips to help others.
“We all make mistakes. Wipe them up quickly.” Rosslyn Gillan
SPEND MONEY ON A GOOD BRUSH
"In my opinion, Wooster makes the best brush," she says. Your brush should be a 2.5-inch or a three-inch angled brush for best results, she says.
"This brush makes all the difference when you are cutting in," Gillan explains.
PREPARE YOUR SPACE
Wipe down the walls and baseboards and put down drop cloths. Looking to save some time? It’s not necessary to sand the entire room, just the rough surfaces, she says.
If you are painting a piece of furniture, give it a scuff sand first. Make sure to then wipe it down well before you begin repainting, she adds.
MISTAKES HAPPEN, BE READY TO FIX THEM
Always have a rag handy that is damp on one end.
"We all make mistakes. Wipe them up quickly," she says.
And don't forget to wear “painting clothes” when you are painting, Gillan says, adding, "It sucks to ruin a favourite shirt."
CLEANING YOUR EQUIPMENT
Because you spent the money on a good brush, make sure you clean it thoroughly so it can be reused.
"I use dish soap when I’m washing my brush. I don’t put it in the freezer," says Gillan, although she says many people do that between coats.
Before you put the lid on, clean out the “gutter” on the can. Put a rag over the top of the can before hammering it on. This will prevent any paint that is in the lip from splattering all over the place, she adds.
And make sure you have the right clean-up tools on hand.
"There is a tool called a painter's tool that is curved on one side and has spikes on the other. It's designed to clean roller sleeves and brushes. If you are doing a lot of painting, pick up one of these," says Gillan.
Dish soap also works well for cleaning sleeves and trays. Ideally, they should be washed in a laundry basin, she says.
REDUCE EXCESS PAINT
To prevent having excess paint on your brush when painting, dip your brush into the paint and then lightly shake off your brush while it's still inside the can.
"When you drag your brush across the rim, it takes too much paint off and makes a mess of the can," Gillan explains.
When you are rolling, paint a W on the wall to unload your roller, and then roll this out to spread your paint evenly.
WHERE TO START PAINTING
When doing an entire room, start with painting the ceilings first, then do the walls, and finally paint the trim.
It is better to do two thin coats on the walls, letting them dry in between, than to do one thick — and often sloppy — coat, she adds.
The biggest mistake that people make is not spending the time to properly prepare the walls before painting, says Gillan.
"Take time to fill a hole or do other repairs," she says. “Also, it’s a mistake to think that no one will notice that glob of paint you got on the ceiling."
Dip in and give it a try. As Gillan says, paint is a quick and easy way to dramatically transform a room.
GENEVA/MOSCOW — Don’t expect a major breakthrough at a summit today between U.S. President
Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, a U.S. official said on Tuesday, given relations between Washington and Moscow are their most strained in years.
“We’re not expecting a big set of deliverables out of this meeting,” a senior official told reporters aboard Air Force One. The two leaders are expected to talk for four of five hours, the U.S. official said.
Both leaders say they hope the Geneva meeting, their first in-person encounter since Biden became president in January, can lead to stable and predictable relations, even though they remain at odds over everything from Syria to Ukraine.
Despite their disagreements, they could make some modest progress.
CYBER/RANSOMWARE
Ransomware attacks by criminals reportedly linked to Russia that have twice targeted critical American infrastructure are a concern for the United States.
The FBI has not disclosed any evidence showing Russian government involvement in the attacks on U.S. fuel transporter Colonial Pipeline Co and meatpacker JBS SA of Brazil, and Putin says the idea that Russia was responsible is absurd.
But Biden intends to bring up the issue and has suggested he wants Russian authorities to crack down on such cybercriminals. Putin has said Moscow would be willing to hand over suspects if any deal cuts both ways.
Biden is also likely to raise U.S. concerns over Russian cyber meddling in U.S. politics, something Moscow, which is pushing for a cyber non-interference pact, denies.
HUMAN RIGHTS, NAVALNY
Biden has said his administration will prioritize the global promotion of human rights and democracy and not shy away from warning countries over their records.
Washington has criticized Moscow over its treatment and alleged poisoning of Navalny, and says he should be freed.
The Kremlin, which denies the poisoning, has said Russian politics is a domestic matter and Washington should stay out of it. It says it will not take lectures from a country it casts as having many human rights problems of its own.
NUCLEAR ARMS
The world’s two biggest nuclear powers are keen to talk arms control to ensure stable relations between their militaries.
In February, they extended for five years the New START treaty, which limits the numbers of strategic nuclear warheads, missiles and bombers each can deploy.
Moscow is keen on a longer extension that would include newer systems.
After the 2019 demise of the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty, Russia also wants to do a deal that neither side deploy certain land-based missiles in Europe.
UKRAINE
The United States has been Ukraine’s most powerful ally since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, a move that pushed Moscow’s ties with the West to post-cold War lows.
A build-up of Russian forces in Crimea and near Ukraine’s borders earlier this year worried Washington, which wants Russia to return Crimea and Kyiv to regain control of a swath of eastern Ukraine controlled by Russian-backed separatists.
NATO leaders on Monday reiterated a 2008 decision that Ukraine could one day join, but Biden said Kyiv had to root out corruption and meet other criteria first.
Putin had said Ukraine was a “red line” and he wants Washington to steer clear. He has baulked at the idea of Ukrainian membership of NATO, said Crimea is Russian, and told Kyiv it needs to talk to separatists in eastern Ukraine if it wants the territory back in any form.
AMBASSADORS, CONSULAR SERVICES
The status of foreign missions is one area where both sides believe there may be scope for progress.
Russia recalled Anatoly Antonov, its ambassador to Washington, in March after Biden said he believed Putin was a “killer,” while John Sullivan, the U.S. ambassador to Moscow, returned to Washington for consultations in April.
An agreement for both diplomats to return to their posts would send a signal that some progress had been made.
There may also be room for a mini-deal on visas and embassy staffing.
Russia, in response to U.S. sanctions, has imposed limits on the number of local staff the U.S. embassy can employ, forcing Washington to cut consular services.
It has also withdrawn from an agreement that eased restrictions on diplomats travelling around each other’s countries.
PRISONERS
Russia is holding former U.S. marine Paul Whelan on an espionage conviction, and Trevor Reed, another former U.S. marine, for an alleged assault on a police officer. Both deny wrongdoing.
Their families have pressed for their release ahead of the summit.
Asked if he would consider a prisoner swap, Putin told NBC News: “Yes, yes of course.”
Whelan’s Russian lawyer has previously suggested Moscow would be interested in a deal that brought arms dealer Viktor Bout home as well as Konstantin Yaroshenko, a pilot convicted of conspiracy to smuggle cocaine into the United States.
BELARUS
The Kremlin has said it expects Putin and Biden to discuss Belarus, a close Russian ally plunged into crisis last year when street protests erupted over what demonstrators said was a rigged presidential election.
With Moscow’s help, veteran leader Alexander Lukashenko has so far ridden out the storm by carrying out a brutal crackdown. His grounding last month of a commercial airliner and arrest of a dissident blogger on board drew Western outrage.
Biden is likely to challenge Putin over his support for Lukashenko and question him about plans to push ahead with integrating the two countries economically and politically.
Putin regards Belarus as part of Russia’s sphere of influence and the two leaders are unlikely to see eye to eye.
SYRIA
Biden will question Putin on Moscow’s apparent reluctance to continue a Unbacked cross-border aid operation into Syria whose mandate is due to expire next month, and urge Putin to support it, a U.S. official said.
UN aid chief Mark Lowcock last month appealed to the Security Council not to cut a cross-border aid “lifeline” to some 3 million Syrians in the country’s north.
Putin told NBC that Russia thought the West should distribute any aid it provides to Syria via the central government, accusing it of not doing so to try to avoid President Bashar al-assad.