Interstate Gas Pipelines in NJ – Public Use or Private Benefit?
Photo credit. http://www.spectraenergy.com/Natural-Gas-Oil-101/ New Jersey is the most densely populated State in the Union. It may soon have the most underground gas transmission lines. The latest in a series of new pipelines is being proposed in New Jersey is by PennEast, a subsidiary of Spectra Energy. An interactive map of the proposed route can be...
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Citizens and Property Owners Unhappy about Proposed Penn East Pipeline
As reported by Lehigh Valley Live, Penn East submitted its application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in late September to install a gas transmission line that would cross through several New Jersey counties and into Pennsylvania. The new pipeline is part of Penn East’s Southern Reliability Link and would connect with the Williams-Transco...
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You Gotta Be In it To Win It: Kentucky Court Stops Pipeline Taking
A Kentucky court recently stopped a utility company from utilizing eminent domain to build an underground gas pipeline to transport natural gas liquids through the Commonwealth. The case, Kentuckians United to Restrain Eminent Domain, Inc. v. Bluegrass Pipeline Company, LLC (Civil Action No. 13-CI-1492), involved the challenge by plaintiff, a non-profit agency formed for the purpose of...
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Pipeline Protests Reach the White House
The controversy surrounding the Keystone Pipeline project has escalated to the point where protesters surrounded the White House yesterday to demand that the project be stopped. Read CNN’s coverage of the recent event here. We previously covered this story in our New Jersey Condemnation Law Blog (story available here), and first discussed this project a year...
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Keystone Pipeline Project Chugging Along
Controversy Continues to Surround Canadian Oil Company Seeking Eminent Domain Authority in United States A recent article on ProPublica.org examined the issues and controversy surrounding the 4,000- mile long TransCanada Keystone Pipeline. We first discussed this project a year ago on Fox News Channel, where McKirdy & Riskin’s Anthony Della Pelle provided commentary – watch the video...
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Beach Season: Appellate Court Clarifies Motion Procedure in a Condemnation Case
In late February 2024, the N.J. Appellate Division decided on an appeal involving a Point Pleasant condemnation case where a property owner filed a barrage of pre-trial and post-judgment motions. All of the owner’s motions were denied by the trial judge. After hearing arguments, the Appellate Division ultimately affirmed the rulings. The justification for the...
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Tyler v Hennepin County Shockwaves Sounding in NJ Appeals Court
On December 4, 2023, a panel of the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey published an opinion that adopted the holding of Tyler v. Hennepin County to reject one of appellant’s arguments. The case is captioned 257-261 20th Avenue Realty, LLC v. Alessandro Roberto, and the full text of the opinion is...
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Is Preliminary Entry a Taking Requiring Just Compensation?
The Eminent Domain Act of 1971 grants a condemnor a right to “preliminary entry.” The statute provides: “Prior to the commencement of any action, a prospective condemnor and its employees and agents, during reasonable business hours, may enter upon any property which it has authority to condemn for the purpose of making studies, surveys, tests,...
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A Primer on Valuing a Condemnation Case: The Sales Comparison Approach
In the typical condemnation case (if there even is such a thing as a “typical” case), the “fair market value” of the property taken, plus any damages to any remaining property is the measure of the award of just compensation. The appraisal profession employs the term “market value” defined as: The most probable price, as...
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Water Company Considers Condemning Alabama Neighborhood
Many of the typical eminent domain cases involve circumstances where a condemnor (i.e., the taking authority) seeks to take a solitary parcel of property, or a portion of the same, to further a public project. So, when we catch wind of a story where a water company is seeking to seize a city neighborhood, it...
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