Legal Experts Say Pipeline Companies Can’t Yet Claim Eminent Domain
“Pipeline companies who want to build lines through West Virginia and neighboring Virginia have told some landowners they can survey on their land without the landowners’ permission. Legal experts, however, say those companies don’t have that right – yet. Attorney Joe Lovett with Appalachian Mountain Advocates says pipelines can only claim eminent domain, and the right to survey without permission, when they prove their projects serve a genuine public need. He says the pipeline companies in question haven’t done that. “The power of eminent domain is an extraordinary power, only granted for public purposes,” says Lovett. “It’s improper for a company just to assert that its project is for public use, without actually having had that determined.” Three planned natural gas pipelines – including Dominion’s huge Atlantic Coast Pipeline – would bring Marcellus Shale natural gas to eastern states, including Virginia and North Carolina.”
Public News Service 19 November 2014.