TransCanada, prodded by the Nebraska Supreme Court’s key ruling on who determines the routing of Keystone XL, has started court action to access the remaining property it needs to build, operate and maintain the pipeline.
The company’s decision to press ahead coincides with a clear message by Congressional supporters of the pipeline that they won’t give up their fight to garner enough votes to override President Barack Obama’s promised veto of a bill approving XL.
North Dakota’s Republican Sen. John Hoeven and West Virginia’s Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin told reporters Jan. 21 they are hopeful of cobbling together the 67 Senate votes needed to counter Obama’s veto - which means adding another four or five Democrats to the nine who have already sided with 54 Republicans on the earlier XL approval bill.
Hoeven said the current efforts are focused on gathering 67 votes, failing which “we will have to attach (XL approval) to something else” in a bill Obama could not veto without shutting down the government.
“This line will be built. That’s inevitable. It will be built,” said Manchin. “To say it will not be built is ridiculous.”
But on Jan. 26, Senate Republicans failed to get the 60 votes needed to stop a Democratic filibuster in two procedural motions that were voted down 53-39, reinforcing the importance of more Democratic support.
Correcting misconceptions
The two senators were joined by Gary Doer, Canada’s ambassador to the United States, who warned that rejecting XL would cause more deaths and increase global warming.
“If the president says no to the pipeline he is saying yes to higher amount of oil on rail and higher greenhouse gases ... and more death and injury,” Doer said.
Defending his presence at the news conference, Doer said he was simply pointing out the facts and correcting misconceptions about XL.
Hoeven said before the conference that Obama has run out of reasons to delay the pipeline. “All seven states on the route have approved the project,” Hoeven said. “It has 70 percent support from the American public. And it has bipartisan support in the Congress. Yet the president still holds it up.”
Landowner holdouts
But, just as quickly as TransCanada moved on legal action to secure the Nebraska land it needs, it was dragged into a fresh lawsuit with those landowners determined to prevent the use of eminent domain to win the legal battle.
TransCanada said it has submitted documents in nine counties to acquire 12 percent of the total land easements from landowners who have yet to reach a deal with the company.
Some of the holdouts have declared they will not negotiate regardless of how much TransCanada offers.
Keystone projects land manager Andrew Craig, noting that TransCanada has acquired all of the private landowner easements in Montana and South Dakota, said Nebraska easements are “all we have left.”
He rated 88 percent voluntary agreements reached with 740 Nebraska landowners in the last two years as “substantial success.”
Craig said TransCanada hopes to sign agreements with at least half of the remaining landowners before resorting to eminent domain - a process he estimates would take about six months to conclude, allowing the company to use land for the pipeline in exchange for compensation set by independent appraisers
“Eminent domain is a last resort,” the company said in a statement. “Our first priority is always to negotiate voluntary agreements with landowners.”
Craig said that in voluntary deals and the imposed terms of eminent domain agreements, landowners would “continue to own and farm the land. TransCanada is only acquiring the right to construct, operate and maintain a pipeline below ground.
“We have made numerous offers to negotiate generous agreements with all landowners,” he said.
But Craig said TransCanada’s court filings occurred just before the expiry of a deadline to invoke eminent domain, adding “we have waited as long as we could under state law before beginning the process.”
The company said eminent domain allows “commodities like food, oil, natural gas and power to have safe transportation corridors needed to get to where they are used” in homes, factories and the 250 million vehicles that need to start up each day in America.”
Perpetual opposition
However, TransCanada said it recognizes that “some people” will continue to oppose XL “no matter what process is followed in order to put up roadblocks. We accept that.”
It said the Nebraska Supreme Court ruling establishes that TransCanada has a “valid and approved route through the state,” even though it is willing to deal with the concerns of landowners relating to compensation and the restoration of native grasslands.
XL opponents have claimed many of the landowners in Montana and South Dakota were “bullied” in the early negotiations, being told they had no other choice.
Jane Kleeb, executive director of Bold Nebraska, a coalition opposing XL, said farmers and ranchers are determined to stop TransCanada “from polluting our water” and will wage legal action while taking the fight to President Barack Obama.
“Nebraska families are facing an inconceivable moment when land that has been in their hands for generations is being taken away from them by a foreign oil company,” she said.
The landowner suits were filed by David Domina, an attorney who was defeated in an earlier effort to halt construction of the pipeline when judges ruled his clients had not established their legal right to sue.
But Domina maintains that TransCanada does not have a lawful route across the state and has no right to use the power of eminent domain.
Sen. Bob Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, is accusing TransCanada of using eminent domain for a private project that is “not in the public interest.”
While the skirmishes continue, a new poll published by the Washington Post and ABC News showed 61 percent of 1,003 adults polled favored completing the current regulatory review, while 34 percent said the pipeline should be expeditiously approved by Congress. Another 2 percent did not want the pipeline approved by any means and 3 percent had no opinion.
