Keystone XL fight renewed over eminent domain issue

The fight over the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline was renewed in the Nebraska Legislature Wednesday, centering on the issue of eminent domain.

The scene was a public hearing of the Judiciary Committee on a proposal by Sen. Ernie Chambers. Chambers’ bill would abolish the ability of pipeline companies to exercise the power of eminent domain.

That’s a power whereby if a company can’t get a landowner to sell them an easement to pass through their land, it can go to court to force the issue. Among those who showed up to support Chambers proposal was Jeanne Crumly of Page, Nebraska. Crumbly said she doesn’t oppose eminent domain for government purposes. She said she and her husband had agreed to a road project that passed through their land, and on other projects as well. "We’ve negotiated with power companies that have needed to move power lines onto our property. Recently we’ve negotiated with a coop for the installation of natural gas line across our land. We understand public use," she said. "What we do not understand is the taking of land simply for corporate profit."

Pipeline company TransCanada opposes Chambers bill. Interviewed in advance of the hearing, TransCanada’s Andrew Craig discussed the company’s perspective. "It’s a slippery slope. The bill today has targeted just oil pipelines. But the reality is, down the road somebody wants to build a new pipeline out to the Lincoln airport to deliver jet fuel, and you get a couple people that aren’t comfortable with the project, and they say no, you’re not going to be able to get a new pipeline built," he said.

Lawyer Dave Domina represents landowners who are trying to stop the pipeline coming through their land. He said the Legislature should add a requirement to the law. "The organization exercising that power must remove the environmental threat at the end of the term of use at their expense instead of abandoning that object under the land of Nebraska for a future generation of Nebraskans to cope with, at a removal cost that is a dramatic multiple of the construction cost," he said.

Rancher Randy Thompson, whose land the pipeline would have crossed before the proposed route was changed, expressed frustration that senators did not attend hearings the State Department held on the pipeline proposal. "Hundreds of Nebraska landowners testified at all those hearings. And I can tell you this: I did not see more than four or five of our legislators attend any of those meetings. So how in the hell can you know what we are thinking or what our concerns are if you don’t show up and listen to us? That’s a disgrace," he declared.

Thompson later apologized for the way he expressed himself.

Doug Zimmerman farms outside Seward and is on the route of the original Keystone pipeline that was built with little controversy in 2009. Zimmerman said he’s had a good experience with TransCanada, and came to oppose the bill. "There’s a commodity that we should be sending to Texas to put in our refineries. And I think the people -- the landowners -- who are holding out right now would be more than happy with the services they get from TransCanada and Keystone," he said.

Sandra Breiner, a Holt Country rancher, opposed the pipeline and supported the bill. "We would all have to live with this pipeline, for the rest of our lives and for generations to come. And for what? So that a foreign company can get their oil to the Gulf to be put on the open market and sold to foreign countries all around the world?" she asked. "And Canada, they don’t want the pipeline on their land, so why would the United States want it across ours?"

TransCanada’s Andrew Craig said the company does not want to use eminent domain. "We also prefer not to have to utilize eminent domain. It is absolutely a tool of last resort," he said.

Craig offered some numbers to try and put resistance to the project in Nebraska in context. "I just think it’s important to note that in both Montana and South Dakota we’ve been able to acquire 100 percent of our privately held land rights. We’re at 90 percent today in Nebraska. And for a project of this scale in 2015, and especially a project that’s become this political, I think that’s pretty successful," he said.

Eminent domain proceedings, which began in January, have been suspended pending a Nebraska Supreme Court ruling on the latest lawsuit by landowners. Meanwhile, pipeline supporters and opponents are waiting for a State Department recommendation on whether or not to permit the pipeline to cross the U.S. – Canadian border. A final decision by President Obama is expected after that.