Wall Street Journal – by ALISON SIDER and ALICIA MUNDY
A Nebraska judge ruled Wednesday the law allowing the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline to be built across the state is unconstitutional, a move that could further delay the project.
Lancaster County District Court Judge Stephanie Stacy sided with three landowners who argued Nebraska’s governor shouldn’t be able to sign off on the pipeline’s route. The governor, Republican Dave Heineman, was handed that power in a law the state Legislature hastily passed in 2012. But the court ruled that under the state’s constitution, only Nebraska’s Public Service Commission could approve such a pipeline route.
The judge ruled the Legislature overstepped its bounds and the governor’s approval “must be declared null and void,” because it was based on an unconstitutional law.
Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning, who defended the law in court, said he would appeal the decision.
TransCanada Corp. TRP.T 0.00% originally proposed building the massive pipeline from Canada’s oil sands to the Midwest in 2008, but had to devise a new route through Nebraska in 2012, after landowners and lawmakers in the state objected to plans that called for crude oil to move through the ecologically sensitive Sand Hills area where the Ogallala Aquifer is located. Mr. Heineman approved a revised route in 2012, but construction can’t begin until President Barack Obama makes a final decision on the project.
TransCanada said it was disappointed with the decision and offered no details on what its next steps would be.
The Nebraska landowners were represented by attorney Dave Domina, who said Wednesday’s ruling prevents the company from taking over contested property to build the pipeline. “TransCanada has no approved route in Nebraska. TransCanada is not authorized to condemn the property against Nebraska landowners,” he said. “The pipeline project is at a standstill.”
TransCanada hasn’t filed an application with the Nebraska Public Service Commission, according to the agency. The commission can take seven months to review an application before deciding whether to approve or deny it, and that time frame can be extended in certain cases.
Keystone XL’s fate has been uncertain for years. Building a pipeline across an international border requires U.S. State Department approval, which it doesn’t have. While it continues to wait for permission to build Keystone XL, TransCanada constructed a southern leg of the project. That pipeline between Oklahoma and the Texas Gulf Coast moves about 500,000 barrels of oil a day.
Earlier this month the State Department released its final environmental analysis, which said Keystone XL would have little impact on climate change. But the department hasn’t yet determined whether building the oil pipeline is broadly in the U.S.’s interest. Mr. Obama is expected to make the final decision on Keystone XL. The White House referred all requests for comment to the State Department, which didn’t comment.
Write to Alison Sider at alison.sider@wsj.com and Alicia Mundy at alicia.mundy@wsj.com
I think a few well-placed pipe bombs would delay the project too, and as long as we’ve all been branded as “terrorists” anyway, might as well make the shoe fit.