Enbridge says it agreed to pay $11 million on Line 3 pipeline penalties

(Reuters) – Enbridge Inc said on Monday it has reached an agreement on penalties over its Line 3 oil pipeline replacement project and that it will pay $11 million to various Minnesota regulators and the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.

The Canadian company said $7.5 million of the total will be used to provide financial assurances and fund multiple environmental and resource enhancement projects, as part of the agreements with the Minnesota regulators and the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.

The Minnesota attorney general would file a misdemeanor criminal charge for taking water without a permit at the Clearbrook aquifer, a charge that would be dismissed after the company adheres to one year of compliance with state water rules, Enbridge said in a news release.

Line 3, built in the 1960s, carries oil from Edmonton, Alberta, to refineries in the U.S. Midwest, but for years was transporting less than its capacity because of age and corrosion.

The replacement project, announced in 2014 and amounting to roughly $8.2 billion, was opposed by environmental and Native American groups, particularly in the last stage of the expansion in Minnesota.

(Reporting by Seher Dareen and Swati Verma in Bengaluru; Editing by Matthew Lewis)