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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, March 11, 2015

Contact:
Ken Winston, 402-212-3737, kwinston@inebraska.com
Ben Gotschall, 402-705-8679, ben@boldnebraska.org

Landowners Facing Eminent Domain for Keystone XL
to Hold Press Conference Before LB 473 Hearing

Press conference scheduled for 1 p.m. Wednesday
at the Lincoln statue in front of the Capitol

Lincoln, NE — Nebraska landowners currently facing the threat of eminent domain for TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline, along with Ken Winston of Nebraska Sierra Club and Bold Nebraska’s Ben Gotschall, will hold a press conference on Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. in front of the Lincoln statue outside the State Capitol to discuss the hearing that day on Sen. Ernie Chambers’ LB 473 bill to stop eminent domain for private gain in Nebraska.

Speakers will include Byron “Stix” Steskal and Jeanne Crumly, landowners on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline route who will testify in support of LB 473 at the hearing on Wednesday.

The two landowners are also plaintiffs to the lawsuit seeking to have LB 1161, the bill that granted TransCanada eminent domain authority, declared unconstitutional. The landowners recently won a court injunction halting TransCanada’s eminent domain proceedings against them until their case is decided by the Nebraska Supreme Court.

  • WHAT: LB 473 eminent domain bill press conference with landowners, Ken Winston (Nebraska Sierra Club), Ben Gotschall (Bold Nebraska)
  • WHERE: Lincoln statue (West entrance of State Capitol)
  • WHEN: Wednesday, March 11 at 1:00 p.m.

Bold Nebraska will present a petition at the hearing signed by over 10,000 supporters of LB 473 who oppose the use of eminent domain for private gain.

View the petition online: http://act.boldnebraska.org/sign/chambers/

Landowners and concerned citizens will also be at the Capitol on Wednesday to testify on a bill related to a proposed fracking wastewater well that a Colorado-based company has applied for a permit to operate in Sioux County. The proposed well would pump a projected 10,000 barrels of toxic wastewater per day — carried on rural county roads via 80 tanker truckloads daily — down through the Ogallala aquifer, permanently threatening our precious natural resource.

Bold Nebraska and Nebraska Sierra Club recently launched a petition urging the Nebraska Oil & Gas Conservation Commission to reject the permit for the proposed fracking wastewater well, which so far has gathered over 3,500 signatures.

The petition also targets the Nebraska legislature, calling for a halt to the practice: “The Nebraska Legislature should halt the dumping of fracking wastewater in our state until we have adequate standards to protect our land and water — Nebraska’s lifeblood, and key to our productive future.”

View the petition online: http://act.boldnebraska.org/sign/fracking

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