It was roughly one year ago when the Obama Administration rejected the Keystone XL Pipeline and its path through part of Nebraska.
But the fight against the oil line - for some landowners- cost them, time and money. They want the developer -TransCanada - to foot the bill.
This afternoon another hearing wrapped up in the court battle surrounding landowners rights and eminent domain.
It's a court battle that's been waging for a year - Nebraska landowners are asking TransCanada to reimburse lawyers fees stemming from a lawsuit surrounding the Keystone XL Pipeline. The company had attempted to gain access to private land to build the pipeline using eminent domain - a move the landowners blocked.
"If, for example, as a farmer and I go out there and decide I'm going to deep chisel plow my field and I hit that pipe and knick it and create a leak," said Art Tanderup, landowner. "Then I'm responsible for that even though they put the pipe in and they're not allowing me to do my business, which is to farm my ground best way possible."
TransCanada then appealed those rulings. A judge listened to attorneys from both sides of the argument but has yet to rule. TransCanada argued in the hearing that the amount to be reimbursed was based on generalities, and was not an accurate amount reflective of court costs, a statement the attorney representing the landowners disputes.
"Well here this company wants to take land for a specific purpose which is for profit, only for them to transport a product that is not offloaded in Nebraska, and just cuts through our state. and they should have to pay the land owners for what they put them through in order to do that," said Brian Jorde, lawyer for Landowners.
This comes at a time when the future of the pipeline remains uncertain. The pipeline was blocked by the Obama administration, however President-elect Donald Trump vows to bring it back, raising concerns from many of the landowners we spoke to today
KMTV Action 3 News reached out to TransCanada regarding the ongoing legal dispute but have yet to hear back.
