Nebraska to Hold Another Public Hearing on Keystone XL Pipeline Route

Another public meeting about the Keystone XL pipeline route through Nebraska has been announced by the Nebraska Public Service Commission.

It will be held June 7 from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. in O’Neill, Nebraska. The Commission will eventually decide whether to approve or disapprove the route. Public comment will be received on a first-come, first-served basis and speakers will be limited to 5 minutes to comment about TransCanada’s project.

The $8 billion pipeline will move oil from Alberta, Canada across Montana and South Dakota to Nebraska where it will connect with an existing pipeline.

The environmental group Bold Alliance is fighting the project and this week filed a motion asking for an extension of time to submit evidence to the Commission for its review of the project. Bold Alliance was joined by the Nebraska Sierra Club, the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska, the Yankton Sioux Tribe and nearly 100 landowners who will be affected by the pipeline.

May 30 is the deadline to submit written pre-filed testimony, exhibits, work papers, witness lists and other evidence.

The Bold Alliance website stated: “Bold and co-signers of the new motion argue in part that, due to the very recent allowance by the PSC of an additional expert witness for each intervenor class, there is not sufficient time to locate and prepare these additional witnesses by the May 30th deadline.”

Bold Alliance wants the deadline extended to June 7.

The motion from Bold Alliance et al. asks the PSC to extend the deadline until June 7th.