The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has taken a big step toward approving the controversial Nexus pipeline, which would transport pressurized natural gas through private and public land in Ohio and Michigan to Canada.

FERC staffers on Wednesday recommended approval of the 255-mile pipeline, despite years of study and objections by hundreds of landowners, including many in Northeast Ohio who are concerned about the project's impact on their property and the environment.

The recommendation, included in a huge final environmental impact report, now goes to the FERC board of commissioners, which has final approval of the project. Nexus wants to begin construction in early 2017 and finish by the end of the year.

"It's a blow to property rights not only along the Nexus pipeline route, but to all property owners of this country where one's individual rights can be taken away by a foreign-owned company...," said Jonathan Strong, a founder of the Medina grassroots group, Coalition to Reroute Nexus (CORN). "Does this sound like a good idea on any level?"

The federal review rejected an alternate pipeline route proposed by the City of Green to reroute through Wayne and Columbiana counties instead of the more populated counties of Summit, Medina and Lorain.

FERC staffers say Green's alternative route was "acceptable" but would offer "no environmental advantage" over the original pipeline path.

Officials in the city of Green in Summit County have spent several years studying the Nexus plan to bury a 36-inch pipeline that will transmit, under high pressure, 1.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas daily.

Chrissy Lingenfelter, with the Green planning department, said FERC rejected the city's so-called "Green Alternative" route because of the added time and expense that route would take. Lingenfelter said FERC "is allowing Nexus to determine the time schedule."

In their report, FERC staffers also noted:

Ground disturbances caused by digging or blasting should be kept to a minimum and the area needs to be restored as much as possible.

Short-term benefits will come from jobs laying the pipeline and from the purchase of materials.

Nexus must give residents contact information where they can file complaints and must track the complaints and how they were resolved.

Nexus should minimize impacts on natural and cultural resources during construction and operation.

Nexus must comply with all Department of Transportation standards for the transportation of gas through a pipeline.

Nexus must comply with all applicable air and noise regulations.

FERC recommended 38 mitigation measures Nexus must implement to further reduce environmental impacts resulting from construction.

Nexus spokesman Adam Parker said the issuance of the environmental impact statement is "another timely, major project milestone that keeps NEXUS on track to receive its certificate in the first quarter of 2017."

Both CORN and the city of Green officials say they will review FERC's latest action and consider the next step, which could include litigation.

The Nexus plan would run a pipeline from Kensington, Ohio, to northern Michigan and eventually Ontario, Canada, and run across the city of Green as well as in communities in Lorain and Medina counties.