Eleanor Fairchild was joined by actress Darryl Hannah to protest the Keystone XL pipeline on her ranch

“Eleanor Fairchild, a 78-year-old great-grandmother, was arrested late last week for trespassing on her own land. Fairchild was standing in the path of bulldozers on her 300-acre ranch in Winnsboro, Texas — the site of construction of the southern part of the Keystone XL Pipeline.

Fairchild, joined by actress-turned-activist Darryl Hannah, threw her arms up in front of the machinery and proclaimed: “I don’t want tar sands anywhere in the United States. I am mad. This land is my land … it’s about all of our country” but to little avail. Fairchild was arrested on eminent domain grounds.

As Nation of Change reported, however, the issue of eminent domain is especially complicated here. The government is allowed to seize private property with or without the owner’s consent (although with fair compensation) in cases where a project is considered to be of public use or benefit.”

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Lennard, Natasha. Salon 8 October 2012.