The panel in the US state of Nebraska has removed the last legislative obstacle to the construction of the controversial pipeline project in the territory of the state.
The Nebraska Public Service Commission voted 3-2 on Monday to construct the $8 billion pipeline that would link US oil refineries with oil sands in Canada’s Alberta. The route of the 1,179-mile pipeline that will run through the state has been altered over concerns of oil spills.
The decision comes after the existing Keystone pipeline leaked at least 210,000 gallons of oil into agricultural fields in the US state of South Dakota before crews managed to shut it down. The panel was supposed to consider the incident while making a decision, but was forbidden by law to do so.
The Keystone pipeline has spilled at least 14 times since its first year of operation, Margolis said. Thursday’s incident should work as a « wake-up call » for federal regulators to take the risk of oil pipeline projects seriously, he added.
In March, the US State Department issued a permit for TransCanada to construct the 1,179-mile Keystone XL pipeline immediately after President Donald Trump approved the pipeline deal. President Barack Obama had previously blocked the project. It is the last section of the entire Keystone system.
TransCanada Corp’s plan to build a nearly pipeline faces intense opposition from environmental groups, Native American tribes and some landowners.
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