The company planning the Keystone XL oil pipeline is moving to condemn private land in South Dakota. TransCanada Corp. has filed eminent domain petitions in state court against parcels of Harding County land owned by two families, The Rapid City Journal reported. The Keystone XL pipeline would provide a more direct and wider transfer of crude oil than the current Keystone line, company officials said. The company has 94 per cent of the private property easements needed for the project, according to TransCanada's latest quarterly report filed with the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission. The South Dakota Supreme Court in June dismissed pipeline opponents' appeal of a judge's decision last year that upheld regulators' approval for the pipeline to cross the state.

Source: CBC News August 20, 2018 21:33 UTC