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Permalink Reply by Jim Litwinowicz on April 28, 2013 at 8:28am

Keep in mind that in Pa eminent domain is only allowed for public utilities.  That means only nat gas suppliers can use it, not the drillers, producers, or midstream companies. No gathering lines or midstream pipelines can be permitted through eminent domain. Only interstate, regional and local supply lines are considered public utilities.

I am not sure what they would consider a line that runs from oil/gas fields to refineries and/or cracker plants for raw gas to be purified and processed.  That would not be on the supply side and thus not a public utility use in my opinion.

Interesting that this wasn't mentioned in the article. Could it be the writer didn't know or intentionally left that fact out so as to scare more people. If he didn't know then it is an example of sloppy, lazy journalism. If he did know then it worse, an intentional manipulation to scare people.

The drillers and midstreams would like Pa law to be changed to allow them to use eminent domain but there seems little interest in the state legislature to do so at this time.  Thats something people need to be aware of and monitor.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Allen on April 29, 2013 at 1:38am

Historically, gathering pipelines are not considered for the "common good", especially if the pipeline is owned by the same company running their own product through it. A transmission pipeline usually does qualify since the owner of the pipeline charges for companies to use their pipe to get to or from refineries/market.

Gas pipeline companies along with electric power lines, water pipe lines, bike trails, etc, have all had the power of using eminent domain. If we didn't have this available to these companies or municipalities, no infrastructure would exist. In every case that I have been a party, the landowner was always offerred more than the appraisal, plus the company tried to negotiate with the landowner's attorney on their document. When a company takes a landowner to court, the only thing the judge can rule on is the value of the taking. The judge will not play engineer and move the pipe location. When the landowner goes to court the company easement document is used, not the landowner's document.

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