Eminent Domain Lawyer & Attorney : Ackerman Ackerman & Dynkowski : Michigan, Ohio, Illinois

Star Telegram

When a gas drilling company wants a piece of land for a pipeline, its representative usually shows up at the owner’s door with a letter from the Texas Railroad Commission, stating that the company has a right to take the land.

Pipeline companies can condemn land because they’re considered either utility companies, which serve the public the same as Atmos or TXU, or "common carriers," a legal term that means they carry oil or gas for anyone.

Major gas companies have formed their own pipeline divisions as they seek routes for gathering pipelines to serve the Barnett Shale. These divisions have the power to condemn land. ...

This is an article worth reading.  Consider the following questions when reading this article. When is a take effectively a private take?  Is there statutory relief needed?  What is the constitutional and statutory authority designed to limit “public use” \ pipeline takings?

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Fosters Daily Democrat

Until September 2006, the option of expanding the middle school onto Alumni Field was believed to be off the table.

Tuesday, School Board members voted 8-1 to send a "preferred option" of building on the property, to the left of the current middle school on Parrott Avenue, onto the City Council. This decision will have to meet with the approval of the City Council before any eminent domain proceedings begin.

School board members will address the size, programming and other issues at a future workshop.

The taking of reversionary interests is like any other taking of a private interest.  Donors of property to the public frequently seek the return of the property if placed in a different use.  A tougher issue may be finding all the heirs almost one hundred years later in order to obtain the releases.

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Reason Online, December 18, 2007

Drew Carey, Hollywood comedian, recently revisited eminent domain abuse in Hollywood. This film is an excellent demonstration of how eminent domain affects businesses and landowners.

The city of Anaheim demonstrates that eminent domain is not the exclusive option for economic redevelopment.

This great documentary breaks down eminent domain in an entertaining yet informative way.

http://www.reason.com/blog/show/123989.html

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Beacon Journal, July 2007

The Akron City Council intended to vote on the authorization of the city to exercise its powers of eminent domain if necessary to acquire residential property in the middle of the renewal area. 

Notices were to be mailed 15 days in advance of the public hearing, however one of the property owners failed to receive a notice.

-Due process requires fair notice of a hearing in which the final decision to take is made. The courts have consistently taken a position that the judiciary is extremely limited in the propriety of review of the local decision. Therefore, it is imperative that owners have the right to be heard at the time the decision is made in the local legislative body, be it a Township Supervisor Board or a City Council hearing.

The Akron taking may be as much for the opportunity simply to have some development action in the community as it is more than for a public use.

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Pantagraph, July 10, 2007

A Canadian company that wants to contruct a crude-oil pipeline through Central Illinois plans to file for eminet domain power near the end of the month.

Eminent domain remains a last option, however, Endbridge Inc. might begin negotiating with landowners around the same time it files for certificate of good standing...

The 170-mile pipeline would run east of Bloomington Normal from Pontiac to Patoka, affects about 95 landowners in Mclean county, 68 in Livingston County and 65 in DeWitt Count.

-A Canadian pipeline will work its way through Illinois despite the opposition of the local farmers. The issue then becomes one of how owners can be treated fairly. To simply “start negotiations” does not deal with the compensation or the valuation of pipeline takes.

At least there seems to be recognition that the tile fields will require repair.

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Monroe Evening News, January 18, 2007

When property owners in Monroe Michigan found out about a proposed Marathon Petroleum pipeline they understood that pipelines are a fact of life, but that doesn't mean they have to like it.

Marathon has been laying the groundwork for installing a new pipeline through Monroe County.   The pipeline would bring crude oil from Canada to the transfer station in Detroit.

The new line would be wider by 24 inches.

-Pipelines often have different attributes. Some are gas, while others are oil or gasoline.
Each pipeline has a different effect on the property. The environmental considerations are of paramount import. Affects on the property may occur in any of a number of ways.

The pipeline companies can be challenged. Despite a pipeline agent telling people that it will be very expensive for them, in many jurisdictions, the agency is required to pay the expert fees of the owners even as part of a settlement or litigation. The Marathon pipeline discussed in the Monroe Evening News will be particularly challenging for owners.

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Pittsburgh Post Gazette, June 11, 2007

The NIETC designation is important to those property owners because of Allegheny Power's plan to construct a 37-mile, 500-kilovolt power line through Washington and Greene counties, to a power station to be built in Dunkard, Greene County.

When completed, the line would run for 240 miles, through West Virginia and Maryland, ending in Northern Virginia, an area which has been losing power plants. Allegheny Power officials say that the Pennsylvania portion would serve local residents only.

Part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 allows the DOE to designate critical areas as national interest corridors, and to seize private property if needed. Perhaps the most controversial provision locally is the federal government's right to override state permitting decisions for transmission lines.

If a state denies a permit, makes no decision on it within one year or places too many conditions on a power company permit, the federal government has backstop authority to grant construction permits, superseding state and local regulations.

..."This is power companies having the right to condemn private property for profits," he said. …

…At issue are right of way easements purchased by Allegheny Power three decades ago in anticipation of a power line that would serve the booming steel industry.

When that didn't materialize, property owners thought the company had abandoned the rights of way. Because those deals sometimes didn't make it onto the rural deeds, some owners were recently surprised to learn they were sharing property with the power company.  Read Full Article

- This article is one of the few that has dealt with the issue in an unemotional fashion, recognizing that local opposition, if irrational, may well be subordinated to future federal action in order to enhance interstate commerce.

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