Challenges Remain In Neb. Keystone XL Agreement

LINCOLN, NE - State officials say an agreement over the Keystone XL pipeline in Nebraska will help avoid many of the possible legal conflicts over the state's power to reroute it.
 
But state environmental department spokesman Brian McManus said Tuesday that the routing dispute could bounce back to the U.S. State Department if Nebraska and TransCanada fail to agree on a precise route.

State lawmakers and TransCanada pipeline executive Robert Jones expressed confidence Tuesday that they would work together, despite new criticism over a proposal to use state tax dollars to pay for an environmental assessment. 

Debate over the pipeline has drawn international attention focused largely on Nebraska, because the pipeline would cross the Sandhills and part of the Ogallala aquifer, which supplies water to Nebraska and parts of seven other states.