TransCanada has agreed to move the route of the Keystone XL pipeline away from Nebraska's underground water supply, the company announced Monday, days after U.S. State Department officials delayed the project for further environmental assessment.
In a news release, the company said it supports proposed state legislation that, if passed, "will ensure a pipeline route will be developed in Nebraska that avoids the Sandhills.
Moments earlier, the speaker of the state's legislature, Mike Flood, announced the news during a special session of the legislature. He said the pipeline will be moved away from the Sandhills area and the Ogallala aquifer.
The session had originally been called so lawmakers could consider the bill, which would also give Governor Dave Heineman power over the pipeline's route.
"I am pleased to tell you that the positive conversations we have had with Nebraska leaders have resulted in legislation that respects the concerns of Nebraskans and supports the development of the Keystone XL pipeline," Alex Pourbaix, TransCanada's president, Energy and Oil Pipelines, said in a statement. "I can confirm the route will be changed and Nebraskans will play an important role in determining the final route."
The statement said that Nebraska's Department of Environmental Quality, working alongside the State Department, will conduct an environmental assessment to find the best location for the pipeline.
Last week, the U.S. State Department put off a decision on the project for at least another year when it asked TransCanada to reroute the proposed pipeline and subject it to further environmental assessment.
The proposed 2,700-kilometre pipeline would carry crude from Alberta's oilsands through six states to refineries in the U.S. Gulf Coast.
The developments came hours after Alberta Premier Alison Redford said she has no reason to believe the delayed pipeline project won't get off the ground after U.S. officials delve into its details.
Redford is in Washington to meet with politicians and "thought leaders," including House Speaker John Boehner, to discuss the Keystone pipeline and other issues relating to energy policy and jobs.
Redford told reporters that "it's certainly entirely within the prerogative of the people making decisions" to delay the $7 billion project to gain more information.
"I don't have any reason to believe that at the end of this process that will lead to an adverse decision. So from that perspective I am still confident," Redford said. "But I do believe that it's a very valid process that needs to be respected, and at the end of the day it will be for the citizens of this country to make that decision."
A vocal group of opponents to the project have engaged in various protests south of the border, including several demonstrations outside the White House that have included celebrities such as Darryl Hannah, Mark Ruffalo and Margot Kidder.
This week, NDP MP Megan Leslie will head to Washington to meet with "concerned" members of Congress who she said "want to hear a different point of view" on the pipeline and other energy issues.
"We are going to go down to represent another face of Canada and what it is Canadians are talking about here. There's also a wonderful opportunity for relationship building and information exchange," she told CTV's Power Play, charging that the U.S. is outspending Canada 18-1 per capita on renewable energy and 8-1 on green energy investments.
"So it's a great opportunity to learn from them, to hear about what they're doing and to figure out ways we can work together."
Conservative MP James Rajotte said it is "not appropriate" for an opposition MP to visit government officials in another country, and countered assertions that the Conservatives have failed to develop a diverse energy strategy.
"In terms of an energy policy, in the last budget there was preferential tax treatment for large-scale clean energy projects, which (Leslie's) party voted against. There was also increased funding for research and development for clean energy, which her party voted against as well," Rajotte told Power Play. "So in fact our government has been investing a lot in renewable energy"
Pipeline has ‘tremendous economic benefits'
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said last week he was "disappointed" by the decision to delay the project, and raised the issue with President Barack Obama when the two held bilateral talks while at the APEC summit in Hawaii.
Redford and Harper have a meeting on the Keystone issue scheduled for Thursday.
Redford bristled Monday when asked by a reporter if the Alberta government could have done more to lobby for the project and prevent its delay.
"This is a process that must take place within the United States, there's a process that's in place. It would not have been appropriate for the government of Alberta to be lobbying in that process," Redford said.
"To presume that somehow that the premier of Alberta could come down here into this city and absolutely change the course of an independent regulatory process that's conducted through over six government departments is a little bit too rich for me."
Redford said Monday the pipeline project carries with it "tremendous economic benefits for Alberta and I believe for the United States."
But she also wants U.S. officials to know about her province's work on overarching energy initiatives that could be beneficial to both countries.
Alberta Energy Minister Ted Morton said Monday had the project been given the green light this year, it would have led to the creation of 20,000 new jobs in the U.S. in 2012 alone. He also pointed to billions of dollars in revenue for Alberta in the form of royalties and corporate income taxes.
He told CTV's "National Affairs" the project is "too important" to both countries to allow it to die.
But the "silver lining" to the delay is that it will spur the Alberta and federal governments to look to other markets for Canadian oil products.
"I think this will serve as a catalyst for Canada, both in Ottawa and in the Western provinces, to attach a new priority and urgency to export pipelines to the west coast for access to Asian markets," he said.
With files from The Canadian Press
