CALGARY—TransCanada Corp. said Friday that work is well underway to clean up a sizable oil leak at its Keystone pipeline in South Dakota that occurred days before a vote on the fate of the company’s flagship pipeline proposal. A spokeswoman for the Nebraska Public Service Commission said commissioners will base their decision solely on evidence presented during public hearings and from official public comments. Environmentalists were quick to point to the spill as reason to reject the Keystone XL project, but state officials said Friday the spill won’t affect their decision. A Nebraska law approved in 2011 prevents the commissioners from factoring pipeline safety or the possibility of leaks into their decisions. Pipeline opponents have also vowed to stop the Keystone XL pipeline if it is approved, having once declared victory on the project when Barack Obama rejected it in 2015, only for U.S. President Donald Trump to give the go-ahead earlier this year.

Source: thestar November 17, 2017 19:12 UTC