Tuesday, May 14, 2019

Pipeline Companies Find Loophole to Take Land for Free

According to an article posted this week in on the  Forbes Magazine website, the Institute for Justice is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to end pipeline companies' practice of taking private owners land without paying for it.

It works like this.  A pipeline company makes a low ball offer on a piece of private property.  The property owners refuse to accept the offer.  Then the pipeline company gets a court order to take the property using eminent domain, with a fair market purchase price to be determined later.  The pipeline company builds the pipeline, but never pays the fair market price.

The case highlighted in the article is that of Gary and Michelle Erb.  Gary and Michelle own 72 acres in the Susquehanna Valley (Lancaster County Pennsylvania).  The Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company (Transco) got a court order to put a pipeline through their property, 400 feet from their front door in 2015.  The pipe line has long been built and oil is flowing, but the Erb family has not received a cent for their land.

All Conscious Conservatives should hope that the Institute for Justice prevails and that this legalized theft is stopped.

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