Two legislators oppose eminent domain for pipeline

– Two key Iowa lawmakers say they are opposing the use of eminent domain to obtain easements on private property to construct an 1,100-mile Bakken oil pipeline that would cross through 17 Iowa counties.

Sen. Robert Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids, chairman of the Iowa Senate Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, R-Wilton, vice chairman of the House Economic Growth Committee, say they are against the use of such government power for the pipeline project, but for different reasons.

Eminent domain is the authority of a government to take private property for public use in exchange for payment of fair market value.

The pipeline is proposed by Energy Transfer Partners of Dallas, Texas, which says it already has contracts to transport 320,000 barrels of oil per day from North Dakota’s Bakken oil fields through South Dakota and Iowa to Patoka, Ill. The permanent easement for the pipeline across Iowa would be 50 feet wide, but the temporary construction corridor would be 100 to 150 feet wide.

The final decision on the project is up to the Iowa Utilities Board, but lawmakers could offer input into the decision-making process. Some Iowa farmers have already said they won’t voluntary sign easements to permit the pipeline to be buried on their property.

“I am not in favor of the pipeline for multiple reasons, one of which is that it will require condemnation of Iowa farms and other Iowa land,” said Hogg, who has written a book on climate change and argues against expanded use of fossil fuels like gasoline and diesel fuel.

“Using eminent domain for a project that is not in the public interest is a mistake,” Hogg said. “This project is a major step in the wrong direction for our state. It is going to take a lot out of our land. It is going to endanger our water, and it is going to be a long-term commitment to fossil fuels that our state has an interest economically in getting away from for climate reasons.”

Kaufmann told The Des Moines Register he believes property rights are the foundational rights upon which all other rights stand.

“If the government or business can come in and take your property, or take part of your property for their own gain, then I can’t think of a more egregious freedom infringement,” Kaufmann said. “I oppose any out-of-state company getting any condemnation rights. I think that any project like this needs to obtain willing participants.”

Both Hogg and Kaufmann submitted letters in February to the U.S. State Department and to Congress expressing bipartisan opposition to the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which would transport crude oil from Canada to the United States, because of the expected use of eminent domain.

Vicki Granado, a spokeswoman for Energy Transfer Partners, said in an email that eminent domain is a last option for her company to obtain easements for the Iowa pipeline project.

“We hope to acquire the easements required for the pipeline project by working with each individual landowner to get to an agreement. We have a great track record of success in this area on other pipeline projects, and we hope to have the same type of success in Iowa,” Granado said.

Rob Hillesland, a spokesman for the Iowa Utilities Board, said companies planning pipeline projects have the right to ask the board to approve the use of eminent domain for parcels where they have been unable to secure voluntary easements. The board says it typically asks a utility to secure as many voluntary easements as possible before submitting a formal petition seeking the right of eminent domain.

The Iowa Utilities Board has the authority to grant eminent domain to the extent it is necessary for the public use, which the applicant utility has the burden to prove, according to information provided by the board. However, a county compensation commission, not the Iowa Utilities Board, determines the matter of just compensation for property rights taken by eminent domain.