Enbridge to pay fine over wetlands violations

CP

Enbridge Energy Partners LP has agreed to pay $1.1-million (U.S.) for environmental violations related to a crude oil pipeline it is building through Wisconsin. Enbridge Energy, a U.S. affiliate of Calgary-based Enbridge Inc., has finished the first phase of its $2-billion Southern Access pipeline, which stretches 516 kilometres from northwestern to southeastern Wisconsin. In building the project, Enbridge Energy broke some of Wisconsin's waterway and wetland protection and storm-water control laws, according to the state's Justice Department. The biggest issue was around soil erosion caused by the construction, which could hinder the restoration of wetlands along the pipeline's path, said Erin O'Brien, policy specialist with the Wisconsin Wetlands Association. The company quickly rectified the majority of the erosion problems cited in the settlement, Enbridge spokeswoman Denise Hamsher said. EEP (NYSE) rose $1.23 to $29.01.