Time’s Up – Rover Pipe Uses Eminent Domain on Holdout OH Landowners
The clock just ran out for Ohio landowners who either thought Energy Transfer's Rover Pipeline would not get authorized, or hoped to hold out and get higher rates of payment to agree to allow the pipeline to cross their land. As pipeline companies often say, the use of eminent domain to gain access to property is a "last resort." The time of last resort has come. As soon as Rover received its final authorization from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Friday (see ET Rover Pipeline Gets Final Approval by FERC), it filed eminent domain lawsuits against landowners who have refused for over a year to negotiate. Now those landowners must allow Rover access--their bargaining position is gone. Rover intends to fell trees by March 31 to comply with batty laws to protect federally-protected bats. The chainsaws are revved and ready to go. The courts will decide how much compensation holdout landowners will receive--far less than if they had struck a deal before now...
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