Canadian firm proposes new Neb. oil pipeline route

OMAHA, Neb. – The company that wants to build a pipeline to transport crude oil from Canada to Gulf Coast refineries has revised its new route to avoid environmentally sensitive areas in Nebraska.

TransCanada said Wednesday that the new Keystone XL route minimizes the potential impact on the Sandhills region and avoids two small city well fields.

This is TransCanada's second proposed new route through Nebraska. State regulators said the last proposal, submitted in April, still ran too close to sensitive areas.

Jane Kleeb, the executive director of pipeline opposition group Bold Nebraska, says state and federal officials should reject the proposed route if it would still cross the Sandhills and the Ogallala aquifer.

TransCanada officials and state regulators did not immediately return calls Wednesday morning.

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