Published: May 22, 2018 |

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An attorney representing the Nebraska Public Service Commission asked the state’s highest court Monday to uphold the agency’s approval of a route for the controversial Keystone XL pipeline across the state.

Jay Bartel, an assistant state attorney general, said the approval by the PSC of the “mainline alternative route” complied with state law and was in the public interest of the state.

The commission, Bartel wrote, found that there was no dispute that Nebraska will “benefit from the investment and activity that is associated with the pipeline construction and operation.”

The commission voted 3-2 in November to approve an alternative route for the crude oil pipeline across Nebraska, and not the “preferred” route sought by the pipeline developer, TransCanada. It was the last regulatory hurdle for the pipeline, which will carry thick, tar sands oil from Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast.

But the OK prompted a lawsuit from Nebraska landowners, American Indian tribes and environmental groups such as Bold Nebraska, which maintained that TransCanada needs to start the route approval process over again because it sought approval only for its preferred route, and not any alternatives. They also argue that the pipeline will bring few permanent jobs, and more risks than benefits, to Nebraska.

Bartel, in a 73-page brief filed with the Nebraska Supreme Court on Monday, said arguments by the landowners and others were without merit. He asked the court to uphold the PSC’s vote.

More legal briefs are due next month. The Supreme Court will rule on the case sometime later this year.

Source: Norfolk Daily News

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