Appel: No eminent domain for pipeline
“Democratic candidate for Congress Staci Appel says she is opposed to the use of eminent domain to construct a pipeline that would carry North Dakota crude oil across 17 Iowa counties en route to Illinois.
“I do not support eminent domain,” Appel told Des Moines Register editors and reporters on Tuesday. “What I think is that we have to work with the entities and the people who own that and find a way to come together.”
Eminent domain is the power to seize private property without the owner’s consent. It’s been historically used for public benefit, such as constructing highways, utilities and public buildings.
Appel, whose family lives in rural Ackworth in Warren County, is running for the U.S. House in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District, which extends across 16 counties from the Des Moines area to Council Bluffs in southwest Iowa. Her opponent, Republican David Young of Van Meter, hasn’t taken a stance on the underground pipeline, which would pass through Polk County in central Iowa. The project is proposed by Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners.”
read the entire article and watch the news video
Petroski, William. Des Moines Register 9 October 2014.