Nebraska Ranchers Question Pipeline Route [View all]

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http://www.dailyyonder.com/nebraska-ranchers-question-pipeline-route/2012/02/06/3746

The Keystone XL oil pipeline may have stalled for now, but a group of Nebraskans is worried that the project—which will likely be resurrected in some form—would still pass through regions of the state that are vulnerable to oil spills.

Seven landowners met with Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman on Thursday to discuss their concerns. They brought along a slideshow of maps and photos and signed their presentation "by Stewards of the Land."

The pipeline was originally slated to pass through the Sandhills, a fragile ecosystem that overlies the Ogallala aquifer in north-central Nebraska. But last November, TransCanada, the Alberta-based company that is trying to build the project, bowed to pressure and agreed to reroute the pipeline away from the Sandhills.

The company had begun searching for a new route when the Obama administration rejected the pipeline permit on Jan. 18.