According to Seward County resident Bonnie Kruse, the following activities affected the selection of a Mainline Alternate Route for the Keystone XL Pipeline:
• 2003 – The Seward County Groundwater Guardian Team develops a protection plan for the City of Seward Wellhead Protection Area.
• 2006 – The first Keystone Pipeline route is drawn to enter Seward County, crossing the Wellhead Protection Area. A new group called the Seward Citizens on Pipeline Route Committee forms to research the new proposed route and presents its findings to the Seward City Council. The Seward County League of Women Voters addresses the lack of pipeline legislation in Nebraska during a meeting with then-state Sen. Greg Adams.
• 2007 – The Seward County League of Women Voters holds two town forums: the first on eminent domain and environmental impact of a pipeline; the second on pipeline safety with presentations by the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality, TransCanada, the National Pipeline Safety Trust, J. David Aiken (a water and agricultural law specialist at the University of Nebraska) and the U.S. Department of Transporation Office of Pipeline Safety.
The U.S. Department of State requires the Seward Citizens on Pipeline Route Committee to produce an alternate route for the Keystone Pipeline around the Seward Wellhead Protection Area. The committee produces two routes.
After several meetings with the Seward City Council and the Citizens on Pipeline Route Committee, TransCanada agrees to treat the Seward Wellhead Protection Area as a high-consequence area and gives the City of Seward $50,000 for community improvement projects.
• 2008 – The U.S. Department of State releases its final environmental impact study on the Keystone Pipeline. It includes analysis of both routes proposed by the Seward Citizens on Pipeline Route Committee. In the analysis, the Seward Wellhead Protection Area is not recognized as a high-consequence area because it is not identified on U.S. Department of Transportation maps. The Citizens on Pipeline Route Committee and the Seward Groundwater Guardian Team discover that the maps used for the analysis are out-of-date and that there is no procedure in place for the USDOT to update those maps.
• 2011 – Legislative Bill 1, the Major Oil Pipeline Sitting Act is passed during a special legislative session.
• 2012 – Jon and Bonnie Kruse are invited to serve on a Landowners Panel at the Pipeline Safety Trust Conference. The Kruses meet with Vern Meier, vice president of safety, quality and compliance for TransCanada, to discuss the Seward Wellhead Protection Area. Meier says that wellhead protection areas cannot be avoided in every case, but that a process is in place to ensure community input is solicited, listened to and incorporated into routing decisions.
Bonnie Kruse and members of the Seward County League of Women Voters testify at the Nebraska Public Service Commission hearing on the Major Oil Pipeline Siting Act Propose Rules. The rules do not allow for the inclusion of issues regarding pipeline safety.
• Feb. 16, 2017 – TransCanada submits its application to the Nebraska Public Service Commission for the Keystone XL Pipeline. The application is available to the public with maps for the preferred route and two alternate routes. The application states the Mainline Alternative Route “would shift away from its co-location with the existing Keystone Mainline pipeline for 28.5 miles by routing west around the Seward County Wellhead Protection Area. Keystone made this adjustment to be consistent with NDEQ’s recommendation to avoid wellhead protection areas.”
The Public Service Commission requests views of governing bodies of the counties and municipalities in the areas around the proposed route. The Seward City Council and Seward County Commissioners respond to the request, approving the route. Public comments received by the Public Service Commission are made part of the formal record of the proceeding.
• Aug. 7, 2017 – The Public Service Commission holds hearings on the Keystone XL Pipeline that are open to the public and accessible online.
• Oct. 28, 2017 – The Seward County League of Women Voters approves a study of drinking water in Nebraska.
• Nov. 14, 2017 – The Public Service Commission approves the Keystone Mainline Alternative Route. TransCanada is now evaluating the necessity of building the Keystone XL Pipeline based on profit.
