Welcome to the Future!
2017- the year eminent domain went pop culture. Book reviewing Kelo, a film called Litle Pink House making the film festival circuit, and a play in Nebraska about eminent domain and a pipeline.
Small town hokey play? No. It was a finalist in 2016’s prestigious Eugene O’Neill National Playwriting Competition
Missouri’s Western District Court of Appeals held that all counties along the Grain Belt Express, wind transmission line, must approve the project.
Appeal of this ruling has been declined by the state supreme court.
Missouri’s Public Service Commission relied on this ruling to deny approval until all counties sign off on the plan & it is said to impact other transmission lines and Pipelines.
St. Louis Post Dispatch | Despite giving vocal support, state regulators again deny Grain Belt…
The Wisconsin County: Wood County, WI
What did Wood County Board of Supervisors do? Pass a resolution calling on the Legislature to prohibit a specific energy company from having the power of eminent domain
The Activists behind it: 80 Feet is Enough, who argue that the existing 80 feet of pipeline easement is enough, more land shouldn’t be taken
The Legislative goal: to give property owners the value of their land back
Wisconsin Public Radio | Wood County Passes Resolution To Keep Oil…
Lancaster County Pennsylvania is experiencing an uptick in eminent domain actions due to the Atlantic Sunrise gas pipeline.
The Lancaster News Press Editorial board editorial opposed to eminent domain for pipelines makes 3 points:
4 Native American tribes signed an agreement opposing eminent domain–the ability to buy your land.
While Native American soveriegnty is murky, it got a boost this week via a ruling from the 10th Circuit.
Where this will be most interesting will be when eminent domain is sought over lands held by or held in trust by native american tribes. That’s anthing from the Keystonr XL protests to the Native American lands between the Permian Basin and the Mexico border.
Private Property Rights activists in West Virginia are protesting the financial institution funding a pipeline project.
Represents a distinct change from protesting the pipeline company and affords more locations to protest.
Do you support “elected officials work[ing] to prevent and limit the use of eminent domain to take property rights from private landowners for use in oil and gas pipelines?”
That’s the question Whatcom County Council in Washington State wants to ask its residents in November.
KAFE 104.1 | Private property won’t get extra protection from eminent domain
In 2016, Georgia, the state and not the country, placed a 1 year moratorium on pipeline use of eminent domain.
The restrictions that replaced the moratorium include:
Georgia’s Community Holdings Inc | New pipeline rules limit eminent domain
Nuns gone wild. Nuns in Pennsylvania own a corn field that sits in the path of a pipeline. Nuns oppose the pipeline’s path through their property, and to combat it the nuns built a chapel.
The nuns, the Adorers of the Blood of Christ, believe that the earth is sacred.
Sets up a fight between the 1st amendmnt freedom of religion argument the nuns espouse and the 5th amendment takings provisions that permits eminent domain.The legal grudgematch begins July 17, 2017.
In Missouri, the Missouri Supreme Court upheld an appellate ruling that effectively stopped a transmission line plan.
How could the court do this? In Missouri to build a transmission line, the state agency must have input from the counties. Why? Because state law says counties must determine whether a proposed project meets engineering & safety guidelines.
6 of the 8 counties said no to the transmission project. The project backers had asked the MO Supreme Court to not require the county…