Enbridge gets OK to pursue eminent domain for pipeline
“The Illinois Commerce Commission has ruled Enbridge Pipelines can pursue eminent domain to get the remaining right-of-way it needs for a planned 167-mile pipeline from Flanagan to Patoka.
Enbridge wants to begin construction on the light crude oil pipeline this summer and have it operational by mid-2015, said Jennifer Smith, communication manager for Enbridge.
But LeRoy attorney Tom Pliura, who represents about 100 landowners along the route, said Friday, “That’s hogwash. We’re going to be in court and challenging this thing. It probably will go to the appellate court.”
Pliura said the original project approved by the ICC was for a 36-inch pipeline that Enbridge officials maintained would bring hundreds of thousands of barrels of petroleum to the Midwest. The pipeline now has been downsized to 24 inches and Pliura maintains the crude oil will go to China.
“It’s not going to benefit anybody, but the shareholders of Enbridge … Exxon Mobile and China,” he said.
In addition, Pliura maintains the company will be busing in workers from Michigan to build the pipeline.”
Ford, Mary Ann. Pantagraph 3 May 2014.