While it’s impossible to predict the exact actions a Trump administration will take when he assumes office on January 20, 2017, it appears likely that they will move to restart the Keystone XL Pipeline project that was shut down under the Obama administration. If Trump chooses to pursue this course of action, they will simply re-enter the same political and legal quagmire that kept the international pipeline locked down for seven years.
If the project is in fact restarted in 2017, TransCanada may face an even more difficult situation now that oil producers have found new routes to transport oil to the Midwest and United States Gulf Coast. Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada, approved two pipelines on Tuesday, November 29 that will export tar sands oil to markets around the globe, easing the economic pressure facing Canadian oil producers to build the pipeline.
Even with these changes coming from north of the border, there are still around 100 landowners in Nebraska who are ready to resume the fight to keep the pipeline off their properties in order to protect their own interests, as well as the interests of environmental groups.
“For us and for a good number of the resisters, this is a fourth- and fifth- generation land holding,” commented Jeanne Crumly, a landowner whose family farm and ranch are located about 40 miles south of the South Dakota Border. “It's not a possession. It's an inheritance. And it comes with responsibilities.”
Crumly said that she, along with the other landowners, will continue to fight the pipeline’s development in order to protect the Ogallala Aquifer, the largest aquifer in the United States, that lies under the Keystone XL Pipeline’s proposed path. These landowners own the property that lies on top of it, and their attorney, David Domina remains confident that they have the legal weapons necessary to resume their battle with TransCanada.
At the very least, Domina argues that TransCanada won’t be able to use eminent domain laws to seize the necessary properties until September of 2017 at the earliest – Under Nebraska Revised Statute 76-711, parties that abandon these proceedings are restricted from resuming their efforts for a minimum of two years.
Until the company renews its pursuit to complete their proposed project, landowners in Nebraska continue to fight TransCanada in order to recover approximately half a million dollars in attorney’s fees. Domina stated that this extended fight has only increased the resolve of the landowners.
“They are no friendlier to [the Keystone XL pipeline] than they were a year ago, or two years ago. Our clients are Democrats, Republicans, and liberals and conservatives. They're brought together by this issue, and an increasing concern about the Indifference of so many people about reliance on fossil fuels when it's so painfully obvious there are other alternatives.”
Domina Law Group remains committed in the fight to ensure that our clients’ rights are upheld, and will continue to provide the legal assistance they require until the plans to construct the Keystone XL Pipeline are finally and truly put to rest. If you would like to speak with one of our Nebraska trial lawyers, give us a call at (888) 387-4134 or fill out our online form to provide us with details of your case and request a case evaluation from a member of our firm.
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