LAST STEP

Nebraska Approves Keystone XL Pipeline, But on Different Route

Clearing the last regulatory hurdle for the controversial oil-carrying line.

The Nebraska Public Service Commission on Monday approved TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline, clearing the company's last regulatory hurdle in its nine-year effort to build the oil-carrying line, The Washington Post reported. The commission rejected the company’s preferred route for the $8 billion line, which would carry crude oil from Alberta to the Texas gulf coast, and instead approved in a 3-2 decision a route further east of the initial planned location—running through eight counties. The decision comes four days after the existing Keystone pipeline leaked an estimated 5,000 barrels of crude oil in South Dakota.