Hundreds of people are expected to attend a public meeting in Nebraska Tuesday at which TransCanada Corp. will make its case for a revised plan to take the proposed Keystone XL pipeline through that state to transport oil from Alberta to refineries in Texas.
The meeting is being held in Albion, Neb., to discuss Calgary-based TransCanada’s most recent plan to build about 1,400 kilometres of pipeline through the state, which represents about half of the total project.
Jim Bunstock, a spokesman for Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality, said the number of people attending the meeting could amount to hundreds.
“We are figuring we’re going to have a pretty decent turnout,” he said. “And we’re pretty sure that we’re going to have people from both sides (of the issue).”
Among the organizations that have been promoting the meeting is Bold Nebraska, a public policy advocacy group that is opposed to the pipeline. Jane Kleeb, the group’s director, said she expects between 200 and 300 people to attend. Crowds of that size would fall short of ones that reached above 1,000 when the U.S. State Department held public meetings on the previous plan last year.
“I think it will be pretty mixed, I think it will be pretty even,” she said when asked if any position is likely to be more prominent on Tuesday.
Kleeb said people on her side of the debate include landowners, such as farmers and ranchers, along with environmentalists. Those who are likely to be at the meeting to argue for the other side include people from the labour movement and industry, she said.
Kleeb noted how past public meetings on this subject have “gotten pretty heated” and “we’re prepared for that.”
A draft report from the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality said TransCanada’s new route for the Keystone XL pipeline places it further away from certain sources of drinking water – a concern that ranked high among the project’s critics.
Kleeb, however, argues the new plan still sees the pipeline route crossing as many aquifers, even if it bypasses an area known Sand Hills, which was a key point of contention previously.
“They’re still going through our water,” she said.
Bunstock said his department is “neither recommending nor recommending against” the Keystone XL but “trying to prepare an objective report to present to the governor.”
A final report will be made based on input from Tuesday’s meeting, with the aim of presenting it to the state’s governor, Dave Heineman, before the new year, Bunstock said.
This decision-making process is parallel to one being carried out by the U.S. State Department.
Concerns over the pipeline’s contact with sources of drinking water were part of President Barack Obama’s rationale earlier this year when he delayed issuing a decision on the project until after last month’s U.S. election.
It’s unclear when Obama will revisit the issue, based changes to the pipeline’s route.
TransCanada has said it expects a decision from the State Department in the first quarter of 2013 and that it hopes to start construction on the northern leg of the pipeline shortly thereafter.
Construction started in August on a southern segment of the Keystone XL between Oklahoma and Texas. The lower leg didn’t require Obama’s approval because it doesn’t cross an international border, but he gave it his blessing in March anyway.
TransCanada will be represented at Tuesday’s meeting by Corey Goulet, vice-president of the firm’s Keystone Pipeline division. Shawn Howard, a spokesman for the company, said Goulet will “talk about the preferred route we are seeking approval for, provide facts about the project and recognize the important role that feedback from Nebraskans played in getting to this point and route.”
Howard added: “It’s hard to know exactly what kind of reception we will receive. We know that not everyone will be there in support of the pipeline and we understand that and respect that. We will present the facts about this pipeline, safety and the oil it will carry, and that’s all we can do.”
Christopher McCluskey, a spokesman for Canadian Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver, said his office will not be involved in the Nebraska hearing “since it pertains to the process currently taking place in the United States.”
As for comment on the issue, McCluskey cited an address Oliver made last Friday at the Canada Energy Summit, where U.S. Ambassador to Canada David Jacobson was also present.
“We strongly support the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline that would take Canadian liquefied bitumen to the United States, enhance U.S. national security and generate jobs and economic growth in both our countries,” Oliver said.
Adam Taylor, a spokesman for International Trade Minister Ed Fast, said someone from Canada’s consulate in Minneapolis would attend Tuesday’s meeting in Albion as an observer, but would not make any presentations.
– With files from AP
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