Real Estate & Property Law

Pipeline In Pennsylvania

By Alan Ackerman

Altoona Mirror

Spectra has begun work on a proposed natural gas storage field and pipeline system after being approved by the FERC last month.

Shortly thereafter, however, residents who will be affected by the project contacted FERC with concerns, forcing the commission to order a rehearing and consider the issues they brought up.

In the letter, the landowners, who fear a premature use of eminent domain by Spectra, asked for the FERC to use its power to give them information that could be helpful in negotiations with the Texas-based company.

…The landowner letter asked for a response from the FERC before today.

…One of the landowners' largest concerns is that of possible natural gas and oil reserves in a formation known as the Marcellus Shale, which runs through most of the area in question.

If a storage field to hold products from across the nation or other countries is put into place, drilling for reserves that already may be there can not be done because of a possibility of explosion or other dangers to the properties.

Spectra, however, insists that no test wells have been drilled to prove that the Marcellus Shale holds reserves.

-The situation in this article is very similar to the Washington Ten and South Romeo gas storage condemnations in Michigan.  The owners are probably too late in the process to stop the taking.  Further, FERC is less than totally responsive to objections by individual owners being taken by eminent domain, seeing their decision as a Federal policy rather than local action.  However, FERC is not seeking to limit the owners' rights to just compensation.  The storage rights do have substantial value, which clearly is not being paid in this particular Pennsylvania case.

Full post as published by National Eminent Domain Blog on August 06, 2008 (boomark / email).