LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Just as pressure was building on
President Barack Obama to make a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline
that would carry oil from Canada to refineries in Texas, the project ran
into another obstacle — and it came again from Nebraska.
A
judge’s decision Wednesday to overturn a Nebraska law that allowed the
pipeline guarantees the legal fight will continue for at least several
more months. It also could leave Nebraska’s decision in the hands of the
state Public Service Commission, a little-known board that regulates
natural gas lines, grain warehouses and recreational vehicles.
The
ruling was a victory for pipeline opponents, including
environmentalists who say Keystone XL would carry "dirty oil" that
contributes to global warming and Nebraska ranchers and farmers who fear
it could hurt their water supply.
TransCanada Corp.’s pipeline is
critical in Canada’s efforts to export its growing oil sands
production. Supporters say it will create thousands of jobs and move the
U.S. toward North American energy independence.
At issue in
Wednesday’s ruling was a 2012 law that allowed Gov. Dave Heineman to
approve the route through Nebraska. The governor’s approval gave
Calgary-based TransCanada the power to use eminent domain on landowners
who deny the company access to their property. Three landowners filed a
lawsuit saying the decision should have been made by the Public Service
Commission.
Lancaster County Judge Stephanie Stacy agreed.
Attorney General Jon Bruning’s office plans to appeal the ruling to the Nebraska Supreme Court.
A
spokesman for pipeline developer TransCanada said company officials
were disappointed and disagreed with the decision. The company planned
to review the ruling before deciding how to proceed.
"TransCanada
continues to believe strongly in Keystone XL and the benefits it would
provide to Americans — thousands of jobs and a secure supply of crude
oil from a trusted neighbor in Canada," said spokesman Shawn Howard.
It’s
not the first time Nebraska has been an obstacle in TransCanada’s
efforts to complete the pipeline, which would carry 830,000 barrels of
oil daily from Canada to Texas Gulf Coast refineries.
An earlier
proposed route drew fierce opposition because landowners said it would
threaten the Nebraska Sandhills, a region of grass-covered dunes used as
ranchland. That prompted the state Legislature to pass a law in 2012
giving Gov. Dave Heineman the authority to approve the route. The new
one he approved goes around an area designated as the Sandhills,
although opponents insist it still traverses the delicate soil.
The
other states along the pipeline’s route — Montana, South Dakota,
Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas — have already approved their
segments. Oil is already flowing through the Oklahoma-to-Texas segment.
TransCanada
officials have said passing through Nebraska is the most direct,
practical way to transport the oil. And rerouting the pipeline would
bring new states into the mix and would lead to further expensive
delays.
For the Nebraska Public Service Commission to act, state
lawmakers may have to pass a new pipeline-sitting law. Staff members
were still reviewing the ruling Wednesday, said Angela Melton, the
commission’s attorney.
The landowners believe they may have a
better chance at blocking the pipeline if it’s the commission that must
approve the route, though the panel’s five members haven’t given an
indication as to how they might rule. The commission was created in
1890s to prevent governors from granting political favors to railroad
executives who wanted to expand through private property, and its
members are elected on a regional basis.
Randy Thompson, a
Nebraska rancher and a leading plaintiff in the lawsuit, became involved
in the dispute after he was notified that the original Keystone XL
route would have crossed his parents’ 400-acre farm in Merrick County.
He said he doesn’t think TransCanada should be able to force landowners
to sign pipeline contracts using eminent domain.
"They came out
here like a bunch of bullies and tried to force it down our throats,"
Thompson said. "They told us there was nothing we could do to stop it."
Meanwhile,
the decision on a federal permit for the northern leg of the route
still rests with Obama, five years after backers first asked his
administration for approval.
Obama blocked the Keystone XL
pipeline in January 2012, saying he did not have enough time for a fair
review before a looming deadline forced on him by congressional
Republicans. But late last month, the U.S. State Department last month
released an environmental analysis that raised no major environmental
objections to the $7 billion pipeline, though opponents disagree.
U.S.
State Department spokesman Douglas Frantz said officials were aware of
the Nebraska ruling but would not comment because the case was ongoing.
Daniel
J. Weiss, senior fellow and director of climate strategy with
left-leaning think tank Center for American Progress, said Obama and
Secretary of State John Kerry will probably wait until Nebraska has
legally approved the pipeline route before making any decision on
whether to approve the permit.
"This court decision provides more
uncertainty for pipeline proponents, and more time to organize for
pipeline opponents," Weiss said.
___
Associated Press
writers Josh Funk in Omaha, Neb., Rob Gillies in Toronto and Matthew
Daly in Washington contributed to this report.
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