• Video: Watch Gov. Heineman's Monday announcement
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LINCOLN — After saying for weeks that a special session would be a waste of time and money, Gov. Dave Heineman did a dramatic about-face Monday, calling for one on the controversial Keystone XL project.
The session will begin Nov. 1 and is expected to last at least two weeks.
It will focus on proposed bills intended to reroute the crude-oil pipeline around Nebraska's groundwater-rich Sand Hills.
Heineman, at an afternoon press conference, said that any bill might face the threat of an expensive lawsuit but that he thinks lawmakers have "a very narrow" opportunity to pass something that would reroute the project that is legal and constitutional.
"This is going to be our best-faith effort to see if there's something the state can do," the governor said. "It isn't going to be easy. It's entirely possible that at the end of the day, we don't have a legal and constitutional option (to change the route)."
He said he's willing to spend the money — about $7,500 a day — for a special session in order to seek to protect the water beneath the Sand Hills, which includes some of the richest portions of the Ogallala Aquifer.
"What's the cost of an oil spill or leak in the aquifer?" Heineman asked. "It could be millions and millions and millions of dollars, and we shouldn't risk that."
The governor's proclamation came five days after Sen. Mike Flood, speaker of the Legislature, turned thumbs down on the idea of a special session, saying Nebraska would risk an expensive lawsuit if senators passed a law at this late date.
The U.S. State Department is expected to rule by the end of the year on whether to issue a federal permit for the project. That ruling will come after three years of review of the 1,700-mile-long, $7 billion pipeline.
Some state senators have pushed to hold a special legislative session before that ruling occurs, so Nebraska could pass laws that would lead to rerouting the pipeline.
Other senators, as well as TransCanada officials, have said that Nebraska should have enacted such laws several years ago and that lacking any state laws on crude-oil pipelines, the state has no voice in the routing of pipelines.
TransCanada spokesman Shawn Howard issued a statement following the governor’s call, citing Flood’s legal analysis that the long-term ramifications for the state, both legal and financial, “could be significant and very expensive to Nebraska taxpayers.”
He noted that the federal environmental review concluded the current pipeline route would have “minimal” impacts, including on the Sand Hills and Ogallala Aquifer.
“The pipeline takes the safest route – physically and environmentally,” Howard said. “We will continue to follow the process and look forward to the Department of State making a decision on a presidential permit by year end.”
State Sens. Ken Haar of Malcolm, Annette Dubas of Fullerton and Bill Avery of Lincoln said the governor did the right thing.
"He talks to a lot of Nebraskans," Avery said. "He knew the citizens are saying, ‘By golly, we need to have a voice in this, and we don't have one right now.'"
Dubas said she was surprised and pleased by the decision. She said the governor's involvement will be important in passing a bill.
Flood said that he welcomed the call for a special session and that while his legal analysis raised some significant barriers to any legislation, he would consider any bills with an open mind.
The governor's surprising decision means that supporters of a special session will not have to line up the support of 33 of the 49 state legislators to force a special session. Observers said they doubted that effort would have been successful.
Heineman said he remains convinced that the best way to affect the route is for Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to reject a federal permit for the project.
He added that if TransCanada decided to voluntarily alter the route, "that would be great news."
TransCanada officials have repeatedly said the company won't voluntarily change the route because that would cause a two- to three-year delay. That delay, the company has said, would risk missing a 2014 contractual deadline with the pipeline's oil refinery customers.
Heineman said at the press conference that he believes a detour could be found within the borders of the State of Nebraska that would bypass the aquifer and the Sand Hills.
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