Following the conclusion of the week-long hearing for the Keystone XL pipelines, opponents vowed to continue the fight no matter what the Nebraska regulators rule.
"They completely failed to defend their jobs position," attorney David Domina, who represented the landowners opposed to the project, said about the representatives from TransCanada. "They completely failed to defend their environmental position. Frankly, they didn't have much of a case at all… They didn't have any experts from anywhere. That became pretty apparent pretty early on."
The regulators ended the public hearing a day early on Thursday, August 10 following four days of heated exchanges between attorneys representing landowners fighting to protect their homes and the multi-billion dollar company seeking to secure their proposed path for the pipeline. Nebraska's Public Service Commission is set to give its final decision by November 23.
Attorney David Domina addresses a crowd at the hearing over the Keystone XL pipeline.
Following its conclusion, opponents of the pipeline, including two dozen landowners, vowed to continue the fight through non-violent civil disobedience if the commission rules against them. They said that their planned actions will be similar to those taken by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and their supporters in North Dakota during the fight against the Dakota Access pipeline.
KLKN-TV interviewed attorney Brian Jorde, where he commented that while shutting down construction of the pipeline completely would be the best outcome, changing the route to run alongside the existing pipeline is still better than the currently proposed route.
TransCanada previously stated that the company, provided that the proposed route is approved, will wait until December to decide whether or not the project is still financially feasible after they see if more producers of oil will sign 20-year contracts to use the new pipeline.
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