Nebraska approves alternative route for TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline
CALGARY — Nebraska regulators approved passage of TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline Monday, clearing the last major regulatory hurdle for the controversial $10-billion project but creating a new wrinkle by choosing an alternative route.
The milestone comes after close to a decade of development on the project that Barack Obama rejected after years of review in 2015, only to have President Donald Trump issue the presidential permit in March, saying the pipeline will bring jobs and reduce dependence on foreign oil.
The federal reversal left only Nebraska as a holdout, where landowners had challenged TransCanada’s land access strategy and pressured the company to go through the state’s Public Service Commission for route approval.
The commission decided in a 3-2 vote to allow the pipeline but not along TransCanada’s preferred route, instead shifting the southern portion of the Nebraska route toward an existing TransCanada pipeline and away from sensitive ecological areas.