Property Owners are Gearing Up to Fight a “Tsunami” of Pipeline Projects
When it comes to energy infrastructure in the United States, few issues spark as much debate as the construction of interstate energy pipelines. These projects are often touted as essential for ensuring energy security, reducing transportation costs, and supporting economic growth. However, pipelines also raise significant legal and ethical questions when they require the use of private property rights and eminent domain, topics that have consistently sparked our blog’s interest over the years:
- North and South Dakota Clash Over CO₂ Pipeline Project;
- Fourth Circuit Reverses Summary Judgment in Favor of Pipeline Company;
- Oberlin Pipeline Challege Ends at DC Circuit Court of Appeal;
- SCOTUS Sends Pipeline Eminent Domain Case Back to the District Court;
- PennEast Pipeline Prevails Because State Consented to Taking Under the “Plan of the Constitutional Convention” in 1787;
In addition, nearly 15 years ago, MROD partner Anthony DellaPelle was interviewed in this story concerning the “Keystone” pipeline project in the Midwest, where a Canadian company’s ability to use eminent domain in the United States was at focus.
Moreover, one noteworthy legal challenge was brought by the State of New Jersey and resulted in a 2021 U.S. Supreme Court decision in the PennEast Pipeline case. There, SCOTUS answered the question “whether the Federal Government can constitutionally confer on pipeline companies the authority to condemn necessary rights-of-way in which a State has an interest.” SCOTUS reasoned that “[b]ecause the Natural Gas Act delegates the federal eminent domain power to private parties, those parties can initiate condemnation proceedings, including against state-owned property.” New Jersey claimed immunity from a takings lawsuit, but SCOTUS disagreed because the States “consented to the federal eminent domain power, whether that power is exercised by the Government or its delegatees.”
As President Trump’s administration kickstarts a major wave of oil, gas, and CO₂ pipelines—part of its “energy dominance” agenda—landowners, farmers, and property rights advocates are preparing to push back. According to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, there are more than 1,500 miles of new gas pipeline on its list of pending projects. Some of those projects include:
- Kinder Morgan’s Mississippi Crossing Project, cutting 200 miles from Greenville, Mississippi, into Alabama;
- Energy Transfer has announced plans for a 516-mile, $5.3 billion expansion of its Transwestern natural gas pipeline system from West Texas to Arizona;
- Phillips 66 and Kinder Morgan plan to build a new pipeline system to haul gasoline and other fuels to California, Arizona, and Nevada;
- Reactivation of Williams Company’s 124-mile “Constitution Pipeline” in eastern Pennsylvania and upstate New York, and expansion of Williams’ transcontinental pipeline system through parts of New Jersey.
Rebekah Sale, executive director at the Property Rights and Pipeline Center, was recently quoted as stating that “a tsunami of pipelines is headed for landowners’ property rights.” Although we can’t exactly predict when that “tsunami” will hit, we can say that one of the easiest ways for a property owner to begin the fight against eminent domain is to retain experienced counsel as early as possible. For over 55 years, McKirdy, Riskin, Olson & DellaPelle, P.C. has concentrated its practice in this special area of the law and has earned a reputation for persistently defending its clients’ constitutionally-recognized property rights. If you are confronted with the threat of eminent domain, please feel free to contact us for a free consultation.
