(Bloomberg) -- A key permit for Enbridge Inc.’s Line 3 oil pipeline was upheld by the Minnesota Court of Appeals, removing a potential delay for the controversial project.

The court affirmed a Certificate of Need and Routing Permit granted by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission.

The pipeline, which will carry Canadian oil sands crude from Alberta to Superior, Wisconsin, is scheduled to go into operation later this year but has faced fierce opposition from indigenous and environmental groups, who clashed with law enforcement last week while protesting at a pipeline pump station.

Also See: Enbridge Returns Workers to Pipeline Site After Outcry, Arrests

The Canadian pipeline giant is also facing opposition to its Line 5 replacement project, which crosses the Great Lakes along the bed of the Straits of Mackinac. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer ordered the line shut. Enbridge has appealed that decision, and the case is now in court-ordered mediation.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.