Landowners who live on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline route in Holt County, Nebraska, and who are opposed to the project recently attended a County Board meeting to provide their elected Commissioners an update on the status of the controversial project.

Some of these landowners have now been actively voicing their opposition to the pipeline at community meetings like these for ten years now.

And for the record, these same landowners have succeeded in pressuring the Holt County board to pass a resolution in 2013 opposing tarsands pipelines, as well as four other similar city/municipal-level bans along the route.

The Nebraska Public Service Commission, which holds authority over the granting of TransCanada’s permit for KXL in the state, sought opinions from County Boards during its 2017 deliberations over whether to approve or deny KXL, and is likely to do so again — if TransCanada is forced to reapply for a permit.

Commissioners who serve these communities need to near from landowners and citizens with concerns about the KXL pipeline.

Landowners plan to attend upcoming County Board and Zoning Board meetings in other Nebraska counties along the proposed route, to ensure that Commissioners everywhere hear their concerns about KXL’s risks to our land and water.

KXL QUESTIONS FOR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS: 

+ Have you signed a road haul agreement with TC Energy?  Where do we get a copy?

+ Has TC Energy promised to take out liability insurance in the county, or put up a bond during construction and during operation of lifespan of the pipeline?

+ Has TC Energy shared their emergency and spill response plans with Commissioners?

+ Has TC Energy provided training to county first responders — including medical professionals?

+ Has TC Energy provided the “MSDS” (Material Safety Data Sheets, which contain information on the potential hazards (health, fire, reactivity and environmental) and how to work safely with included chemical products) for all batches of product that could flow through the pipeline?

+ Are there any zoning requirements TC Energy must abide by?

+ Are there any other permits TC Energy needs from the board?

DOCUMENTS TO PRINT & SUBMIT TO COUNTY BOARDS:

• Bold Alliance et al. federal KXL lawsuit filed July 1, 2019 (PDF)
  • (Conservation Groups Launch New Legal Challenges to Keystone XL Pipeline Approval)
• Nebraska landowners’ lawsuit challenging KXL route (PDF)
  • (Nebraska Supreme Court decision currently pending: Landowners Argue State Commission Violated Law with Keystone XL Route Approval in Supreme Court Brief)
• Study on risks of tarsands oil pipelines to water and wildlife (PDF)
• Analysis of Frequency, Magnitude and Consequence of Worst-Case spills
  from the Proposed Keystone XL Pipeline (PDF)
  • (author: Dr. John Stansbury, Univ. of Nebraska Lincoln)

We have already seen what can happen when TransCanada / TC Energy meets behind closed-doors with state officials — South Dakota’s Gov. Noem and staff reportedly spent hours with the company conspiring to write that state’s draconian “riot-booster” law targeting peaceful pipeline protestors, ahem, even from “out-of-state.” Ha, no idea who they’re referring to there (#NoKXL).

But the Canadian company has also recently been active at open-to-the-public County Board meetings in South Dakota, seeking road haul agreements, and water permits for mancamps with the state’s Public Utilities Commission.

TransCanada / TC Energy has also been active in Seward and other Nebraska counties on the proposed KXL route, and landowners continue to monitor County Boards and other relevant state agencies where the company may be seeking to secure necessary permits for potential mancamps in Nebraska.

The Nebraska counties that would be crossed by Keystone XL, with details of upcoming Board meetings: 

• Keya Paha County
  • Board meets at 10:00 a.m. on 2nd and 4th Tuesdays
  • (July 23rd; Aug. 13th, 27th; Sept. 10th)
  • Keya Paha County Courthouse: Courthouse Dr., Springview, NE 68778
• Boyd County
  • Board meets Tuesdays, 9:00 a.m.
  • (July 23rd; Aug 27th; Sept 24th)
  • 401 Thayer Street, Butte, NE 68722
• Holt County (pumping station; possible mancamp?)
  • Board meets at 9:15 a.m.
  • (June 28th; July16th, 23rd; Aug 6th, 20th)
  • Holt County Courthouse: 204 N 4th St., O’Neill, NE 68763
• Antelope County (pumping station)
  • Board meets at 9:00 a.m.
  • (Aug. 6th, 13th; Sept. 3rd, 10th)
  • Antelope County Court House: 501 Main Street, Neligh, Nebraska 68756

• Madison County (possible mancamp?)
  • Board meets 9:30 a.m.
  • (July 23rd; Aug. 6th, 20th)
  •  Zoning Board: Aug. 5 at 7PM
  • 1313 N. Main St., Madison, NE 68748
• Stanton County
  • Board meets third Mondays at 8:00 a.m.
  • (July 15; Aug. 19th; Sept. 16th)
  • 804 Ivy St; Stanton, NE
• Platte County
  • Board meets 2nd & 4th Tuesdays at 9:00 a.m.
  • (July 23rd; Aug. 13th, 27th; Sept. 10th, 24th)
  • 2610 14th Street, Columbus, NE 68601
• Colfax County
  • Board meets 2nd & 4th Tuesdays at 8:30 a.m.
  • (July 23rd; Aug. 13th, 27th; Sept. 10th, 24th)
  • 411 E 11th Street, Schuyler, NE 68661
• Butler County
  • Board meets 1st & 3rd Mondays at 9:00 a.m.
  • (July 15th; Aug. 5th, 19th; Sept. 2nd, 16th)
  • 451 N 5th St., David City, NE 68632
• Seward County
  • Board meets every Tuesday 8:30 / 9:00 a.m.
  • (July 16th, 23rd, 30th; Aug. 6th, 13th, 20th, 27th)
  • 529 Seward St., Seward, NE 68434
• Saline County
  • Board meets every other Tuesday at 9:30 a.m.
  • (July 23rd; Aug. 6th, 20th; Sept. 3rd, 17th)
  • Saline County Courthouse: 215 S Court, Wilber, NE 68465
• Jefferson County (pumping station)
  • Board meets first four Tuesdays at 9:00 a.m.
  • (July 16th, 23rd; Aug. 6th, 13th, 20th, 27th)
  • Jefferson County Courthouse: 411 4th Street, Fairbury, NE 68352