Category Archives: easement

INTERIM. Does the Economic Impact of Texas High Speed Rail Support Eminent Domain?

What great economic gains does Texas Central Rail points to with high speed rail? 

  • $36 billion economic impact over 25 years
  • TCR will pay $2.5 billion in taxes to state, counties and local governments
  • The $10 billion project is a job creator, providing 10,000 jobs a year during the four-year construction phase and an additional 1,000 jobs, once the train is in operation.

What does Grimes County Judge say about economic benefits and the impact to eminent domain? Irrelevant. “The power of…

12+ Texas Land Owners Lawsuits. Pecos Pipeline. 1st Pipeline of its Kind. What the Attorney Says.

What the land owner attorney says about the eminent domain lawsuits for the pipeline to Mexico :  

  • No one has ever used eminent domain to build a pipeline that only delivers oil and gas to Mexico.
  • The Railroad Commission does no investigation on whether the pipeline is a common carrier.

News West 9 | Pipeline company files eminent domain lawsuits against Big Bend landowners

 

 

 

3 Reasons Land Owner Complaints on Eminent Domain Are Getting Old. Dallas Morning News.

In an editorial laying out why the Dallas Morning News opposes the Brazos Valley Council opposition to high-speed rail, there’s quite a statement about eminent domain.

From the editorial: ” But the eminent domain scare tactic is getting old.”

Why is the “eminent domain scare tactic getting old?”

  • eminent domain is a quagmire for both sides
  • because condemning entities want to settle, that could strengthen land owner negotiations over price
  • landowners will still get to use their property

…

Techie Buys Beach Front Property. Surfers Want Beach Access. Coastal Commission Steps in with Eminent Domain. Plot for Point Break #3 Develops.

Techies, Surfers and a state agency? Yes, a founder of Sun Microsystems bought 89 acres of beach front property sorth of Maverick’s. It could also be the plot to Point Break #3.

Had surfers had access to the beach before his purchase? yes.

How did the state lands commission get involved? 

  • It began with criminal charges agaisnt the surfers, with video tape evidence of the alleged trespass.
  • The criminal charges go away.
  • The State Lands Commission stesp in to negotiate access.
  • The…

Update to No Eminent Domain for Power Lines Legislative Trend. Counter Punch with Economic Boon.

To counter Arkansas’ Congressmen opposition to the Plains & Eastern Clean Line transmission line, which would run through Arkansas but not provide electricity in Arkansas, an economic study was released.

Who authored the economic study?  the Center for Business and Economic Research at UA’s Sam M. Walton College of Business

What economic boon for Arkansas did the report show?

  • 30 month construction period
    • $182 million in labor income
    • $664 in economic output
    • 693 indirect and…

One State Treats Natural Gas Pipes Differently than Petroleum Pipelines. One needs Willing Buyers. The Other– not so Much.

In the 1990s, Georgia wants to protect wealthy quail plantation owners from a new oil pipeline, so it passed new laws related only to oil pipelines.

What does an oil pipeline have to do that a natural gas pipeline doesn’t have to do for eminent domain approval? A pipeline that carries gasoline, diesel and ethanol must:

  • Get Georgia DOT approval and
  • Be approved by Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division 

Has this been a hurdle? yes, it has stopped a pipeline by Kinder Morgan. The…

2 National Eminent Domain Trends Arrive in Texas. Texas Farmers First to the Punch.

Farmers in West Texas aren’t pleased with pipelines that are being built to bring product to and from Mexico. The farmers focus on 2 national trends:

  • No Eminent Domain for Private Gain Mantra Arrives in Texas. “Eminent domain – I always thought was meant to be for the good of the people, for the benefit of the people. In this case, the only thing it’s for is the greed of the company.”

 

  • Big legal trend requiring that the public use or benefit accrue in the state permitting eminent…

Safety + Eminent Domain = Lege Trend: No Eminent Domain for Dangerous Products in a Pipeline

Kentucky Legislature is debating whether to permit a proposed repurposing of an existing natural gas pipeline. The debate has brought to light 70 year old easements.

Clearly thoughts have changed in 70 years. The safety of the types of fluids that traverse the pipes, plus recent safety issues are weighing on legislators.

Here’s what one Kentucky legislator said publicly:

“I say that there should not be a legal argument that you have the right to take someone’s property to put a…

Legal Trend: 6 Month Beach Erosion Taking for Stormwater Drain. Ends with Big $ Win for Landowners.

Long Beach Township took property from 7 beach front owners for a storm water project. Long Beach Township asserts it did so because a state agency told it to do so. A natual reply as that explanation worked well with our parents as 9 year olds- so and so made me do it. 

The beach project was voided, a win for landwoners.  But, since an eminent domain qualifying project was involved, the state & local government were able to start accessing the property from day 1.

The landowners also…