The latest on proposed oil pipeline in northern Minnesota

State regulators will decide Thursday whether to consider alternatives to the proposed oil pipeline in northern Minnesota.

The route for the Enbridge Sandpiper oil pipeline from North Dakota to Superior, Wisconsin has been a source of big debate in the state.

More from MPR News' Elizabeth Dunbar:

Enbridge has argued the 610-mile Sandpiper pipeline is needed to bring growing supplies of North Dakota crude oil to refineries, but the company's proposed route for the pipeline has run into opposition from both state officials and citizen groups.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has said other routes as well as alternatives to the project should be considered, and MPCA officials disagree with the state Department of Commerce on how the route question should be handled.

MAP: The proposed pipeline route

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