High-water issues might have caused a multitude of problems throughout the region this spring and summer, but expansion plans for Enbridge Pipelines North Dakota are still on track, according to company officials.
Planing for the company's Beaver Lodge Loop Project is well under way, but the actual labor portion had not hit full stride when the flooding set into the Minot region.
The Beaver Lodge Loop Project is designed to add up to 145,000 barrels per day into the company's North Dakota System Berthold station.
Enbridge spokeswoman Lorraine Grymala said Friday morning that since the nearest phase of the expansion involves adding 29 miles of 16-inch diameter pipeline in the Stanley-to-Berthold corridor, the project's building phase wasn't adversely affected by events in the Des Lacs or Souris river basins.
"We haven't actually started construction yet," Grymala said. "Facilities work will be starting later this month, and then our main line construction work from Stanley to Berthold will be starting in the second week of August.
"Really all of the work we're doing, we're west of Minot so we're not in the main flooding."
Another potential project the company was looking into, drilling under Lake Sakakawea south of the Beaver Lodge Station, is still in development stages, Grymala said.
"We're still looking at options," she said. "That one's a ways out."
The company's projects have not suffered from the flooding, but its people have, Grymala said. During the evacuations, Enbridge closed its offices and allowed its workers to go out into the community to assist themselves and others in their times of need.
Also, she said Enbridge donated $60,000 to the Mid-Dakota Chapter of the American Red Cross.
"We are also planning to host a free community barbecue on July 19," Grymala said. "It's from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the MarketPlace parking lot at the corner of 20th Avenue Southwest and Broadway."