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Nebraska to vote on contentious Keystone XL pipeline

───   08:38 Tue, 21 Nov 2017

Nebraska to vote on contentious Keystone XL pipeline | News Article
insideclimatenews.org

A regulator in the US state of Nebraska is set to rule on whether to approve a contentious oil pipeline project that has faced staunch opposition for years in both Canada and the US.


The Nebraska Public Service Commission is expected to vote on whether to approve the Keystone XL pipeline route on Monday morning local time.

Proposed by Canada-based energy giant TransCanada Corp, the nearly 1 900km pipeline could carry up to 830 000 barrels of oil each day from the Alberta tar sands to a terminal in Steele City, Nebraska.

The commission heard testimony earlier this year on the project, which has the support of US President Donald Trump but faces staunch opposition from local farmers and environmental and indigenous groups.

Its decision to grant the permit will be based on whether the pipeline is in the best interests of Nebraska.

The commission cannot take into account the risks of an oil spill since that issue is under federal jurisdiction and the pipeline already has an environmental permit.

The commission is expected to deliver a split decision, according to the Omaha World-Herald. 


$8bn pipeline

Trump approved a presidential permit for the $8bn pipeline last March.

The pipeline "represents a safe, reliable, and environmentally sound way to connect the American economy with an abundant North American energy resource produced by a neighbour that shares a commitment to a clean and healthy environment", TransCanada says on its website.

"The energy it carries will ultimately fuel the daily lives of Americans."

The company says the project will contribute approximately $3.4bn to the US GDP and create "thousands of well-paying jobs and substantial economic benefit to local communities".

From Nebraska, the oil will be diverted in two directions, towards Illinois and Texas, respectively.

However, Nebraska landowners and environmental and indigenous activists have raised serious concerns about the project.

They say the risk of an oil spill is too great and would threaten local water supplies.


Strong opposition

"It's definitely a risk," said Art Tanderup, a farmer and landowner in Neligh, Nebraska, whose land is along the proposed Keystone XL route.

Tanderup told Al Jazeera an oil spill would threaten the Ogallala aquifer, a vast underground water source that spans over 362,000sq km in the Great Plains region.

The aquifer feeds agriculture and other water needs in more than half a dozen US states, including Nebraska.

Monday's decision also comes only a few days after a leak in Keystone XL's sister pipeline, Keystone, spilt nearly 795,000 litres of oil in the nearby state of South Dakota.

"There is no such thing as a safe tar sands pipeline," the Sierra Club's Kelly Martin said in a statement after the spill, "and the only way to protect Nebraska communities from more tar sands spills is to say no to Keystone XL."

About 140 opponents of the project protested in the Nebraskan capital, Lincoln, on Sunday.


Next steps

In an interview early on Monday, Tanderup said he was confident the commission would reject the pipeline proposal.

"There was no evidence that this is good for the state of Nebraska, absolutely no evidence at all," he said.

If the commission rejects the proposed route, TransCanada will have 60 days to revise and resubmit a proposal for review, according to the Associated Press.

Amid slumping oil prices and difficulties getting its oil to foreign markets, TransCanada has said it will decide this month or in early December whether to build the pipeline, CBC News reported.

However, even if the Nebraska commission grants the necessary permit on Monday, Tanderup said Keystone XL opponents would continue to fight to stop the pipeline from being built.

"We're going to continue to stand up to protect the water, to protect the land, to protect our indigenous relatives," he said.

"If it comes to it, we'll be standing there when the bulldozers come."


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