A district judge ruled Monday that a lawsuit seeking to nullify the state’s review of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline can proceed.
Lancaster County District Judge Stephanie Stacy left intact all but one allegation raised by three landowners who are affected by the high-pressure, crude-oil pipeline project. The judge rejected a request by the State of Nebraska to dismiss the entire case.
The landowners — Randy Thompson, Susan Luebbe and Susan Dunavan — are among the leading opponents of the pipeline. They claim that a law passed last spring by the Nebraska Legislature, allowing an expedited environmental review by the state, is unconstitutional.
One of the main claims is that the law improperly delegates authority over such pipelines to the governor, when the State Public Service Commission is authorized to regulate such projects. Another is that the law, Legislative Bill 1161, is unconstitutional “special legislation” because it was passed to benefit only one entity, pipeline developer Trans¬Canada Inc. Read Full Story Here