Deerfield adds US Department of Energy as defendant in action against gas pipeline
“A federal tort action filed by the town against the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission earlier this month has been amended to add the U.S. Department of Energy to the complaint as a defendant.
Under the Federal Tort Claims Act, private parties have the right to sue the federal government for damages if they are injured due to the negligence of one of its employees. The town’s claim is directed at the proposed 36-inch diameter Tennessee Gas Pipeline which is expected to pass through Plainfield, Deerfield and seven other Franklin County towns.
The original action, filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Feb. 4 by Cristobal Bonifaz, a Conway lawyer representing the town free-of-charge in its fight against the project, claimed that a 2005 amendment to the federal Natural Gas Act that gave the commission authority to regulate the transportation and sale of natural gas destined for sale overseas violates the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution. It seeks $675.50 in damages for costs associated with holding public forums related to the pipeline.
“At no time has DOE taken into account in its permitting processes to export natural gas that the transportation of gas for export, including Kinder Morgan’s gas, is carried through pipelines approved by FERC under alleged authority granted to FERC by 2005 Amendments to the Natural Gas Act, and that approval by FERC of such transportation of Natural Gas for export is in violation of the Constitution of the United States,” Bonifaz wrote in the amended claim.”
Relihan, Tom. GazetteNet 26 February 2015.