LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Canada-based developer of the Keystone XL pipeline has paid $474,000 to secure easements for the pipeline through state-owned school land.The land is a part of a trust to make money for the state's public schools.
TransCanada has also agreed to pay $164,000 to farmers and ranchers who rent the public schools trust land to cover loss of crops and forage over three years. In total, the company is spending $638,000.
The Lincoln Journal Star reports the easements amount to 54 acres in three Nebraska counties. It's a small portion of the 1.3 million acres that's overseen by the Board of Educational Land and Funds.
The state still has the property's title, but the easements give TransCanada the ability to survey, build and maintain an underground pipeline.
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