Judge allows use of condemnation for oil pipelines
“Phillips 66 now has the final right-of-way needed to continue operation of three oil pipelines that cross the Blackfeet Reservation, carrying Canadian crude to points south.
Easements for the pipelines, initially granted in the 1960s and 1970s, had expired.
“We have three pipelines that are in that area and the right-of-way to that expired so we had to re-negotiate access across that land so this was part of that process,” said Michael Barnes, a spokesman for Phillips 66 in Houston. “It’s not new pipe or additional pipe.”
The company negotiated access agreements to those pipelines with about 600 landowners and the Blackfeet Tribe.
A condemnation complaint was filed in U.S. District Court in Great Falls after the company failed to reach an agreement with several owners of one parcel.
U.S. District Judge Sam Haddon issued a ruling last Monday granting easements and rights-of-way for access to that final parcel. Just compensation was determined to be $1,450.”