Texas Eastern Transmission L.P. Pushes Forward in Arkansas
The Texas Eastern Transmission Company has notified residents and businesses in Arkansas that their pipeline representative is about to seek acquisition of their property. This is being done prior to approval of the environmental assessment by FERC. Licensing has not been granted. The utilities are pushing their projects without environmental assessments in order to acquire as much land as possible, thereby signifying the importance and risk they have taken in the project. You can only hope that the owners understand the seriousness of the easement they are granting.
In many areas along the Texas Eastern project, there is an already existing pipeline, which makes the environmental assessment application easier, but also makes the project potentially less safe.
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If you are a landowner receiving this notice, you may be contacted by a pipeline company representative about the acquisition
of an easement to construct, operate, and maintain the planned facilities. The company would seek to negotiate a mutually acceptable agreement. However, if the project is approved by the Commission, that approval conveys with it the right of eminent domain. Therefore, if easement negotiations fail to produce an agreement, the pipeline company could initiate condemnation proceedings where compensation would be determined in accordance with state law.
A fact sheet prepared by the FERC entitled "An Interstate Natural Gas Facility On My Land? What Do I Need To Know?" is available for viewing on the FERC Web site (http://www.ferc.gov). This fact sheet addresses a number of typically asked questions, including the use of eminent domain and how to participate in the Commission's proceedings.
