I was at the Whitefish Area Property Owners Association (WAPOA) meeting at the Crosslake Community Center on Nov. 21 to attend what I hoped would be an informational meeting to learn more about the Line 3 pipeline project. I was disappointed as only one point of view was offered, and that was from a person opposed to the route. While I can respect another’s point of view, I don’t believe it is fair to the public that a property owners group that represents members with a broad range of viewpoints would offer only one. I had expected that someone from Enbridge would be represented also, but that was clearly not the case. It appeared as though the group was being spoon-fed. I’ve attended other public meetings about this project, and for those who have not followed it, it has already gone through a permitting process with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. It overwhelmingly has been approved and is waiting on a few more regulatory permits before it can move forward. Despite the speaker’s contention that the replacement line will go through lakes and forests, I’ve learned it will mostly follow existing pipeline corridors and high-transmission electric line corridors on the route to Superior, Wisconsin. In the spirit of providing the public and WAPOA members with all points of view, I suggest they invite representatives of Enbridge to a future meeting so everyone can make up their own minds about this project. I also hope that the desires of a few aren’t using the funding mechanism of WAPOA to further their own agenda on this pipeline issue.
Fred Hage
Woman Lake resident
