Property rights outweigh pipelines
“Three natural gas pipelines proposed to pass through Virginia are being hailed as economic boons, bringing thousands of jobs and luring manufacturers to the commonwealth.
The largest of the three, the 550-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline, would start in West Virginia and end in Robeson County, N.C., with a spur from Emporia through Suffolk to Chesapeake. It’s projected to generate $14.6 million annually in tax revenue for Virginia.
Nearly every political leader in the state, from Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe to Republican House Speaker Bill Howell, praises the pipelines as the best way to reduce energy costs and speed the closing of aging coal plants.
Few want to talk about what is likely to accompany them: the largest exercise of condemnation power in the commonwealth in decades, all without the constitutional protections Virginians ensured for property owners in 2012.
The federal Natural Gas Act, which controls the transportation and sale of natural gas, gives private, for-profit companies the power of eminent domain when a property owner isn’t willing to sell. Unlike Virginia’s constitution, federal law does not guarantee the right to a jury trial in eminent domain cases, and it does not require companies to pay property owners for lost profits.”
Virginian Pilot 14 December 2014.