Despite opposition from environmentalists and some landowners, state regulators in Nebraska on Monday gave the green light for construction of the controversial $8 billion Keystone XL pipeline. The decision by the Nebraska Public Service Commission was on a 3-2 vote and came just days after a massive Keystone pipeline spill in South Dakota.
The vote signaled the removal of the last big hurdle for the oil project and is considered a victory for President Donald Trump. He reversed a decision of President Obama who had blocked permits for the project two years ago. Once finished, TransCanada’s pipeline will carry up to 830,000 barrels a day of crude from Canada and North Dakota to oil refineries along the Texas Gulf Coast.
Regulators in Nebraska had said the 210,000 gallon oil spill in rural South Dakota would not play a role in their decision. State law barred them from making such a consideration.
Stunned by the decision, environmentalists vowed to continue their fight, according to Politico.
“We will appeal, said Jane Kleeb, an activist who is now the chairwoman of the Nebraska Democratic Party. “We will challenge a foreign corporation being given eminent domain in the county courts, with every intent to bring it to the Supreme Court of needed.”
The 1,200 mile line will run through Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. Despite the $8 billion cost, TransCanada maintains demand for space on the pipeline is strong. Companies will be required to commit to 20-year contracts in order to use the line.
Once the line is complete, it will carry more oil to Cushing, Oklahoma and eventually through the already-completed Keystone line that carries oil from Oklahoma south to the gulf refineries.