The Nebraska Public Service Commission held its first official hearing in what will be a week-long process.
On Monday, lawyers from five different parties listened to proponents of the pipeline.
The attorney representing the landowners, Dave Domina hammered questions at TransCanada executive Tony Palmer on who would be ultimately responsible for the pipeline. Domina said the layers of companies and partnership made it hard to figure out where the buck stops, but Palmer said ultimately the buck stops at TransCanada.
At first Palmer wouldn't answer if the company would sell the route to another company but did later clarify TransCanada would not sell the route.
Later on, the project manager of Keystone XL, Paul Fuhrer, testified on calming fears on the environmental impacts the construction saying the horizontal drilling is much safer for the environment.
Creighton professor Ernie Goss also talked about his role in writing about the economic benefits the pipeline would have on the state.
Testimony from the landowners, union workers, and the native American community will be later this week.
The commission is supposed to make its final decision this November.
