Homeowners being sued over plan to build 800-mile pipeline

Jennifer Eberbach, USA Today Network Published 9:28 a.m. ET Feb. 28, 2017 | Updated 10:43 a.m. ET Feb. 28, 2017
Land owners face eminent domain after refusing offers for easements



(Photo: Gillis Benedict/Livingston Daily)

The stakes along a neighbor’s horse farm, about 100 feet from Jerry and Karen Jones’ Putnam Township home, mark where the natural gas pipeline will run.

Karen Jones said the family will likely move away because of the pipeline. She worries their home is too close if an explosion occurred.

“It’s devastating,” she said. “We built our house 11 years ago, and it’s all our blood, sweat and tears. It’s our retirement.”

The Federal Energy and Regulatory Commission on Feb. 2 gave Energy Transfer Rover approval to build an 800-mile interstate natural gas pipeline. The Rover Pipeline will pass through about 15 miles of Livingston County, coming from the south through Washtenaw and Lenawee counties.

Now the company is suing property owners in the three Michigan counties, to gain easements to build the pipeline. In Livingston County, that includes eight private property owners and the county's drain commission.

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Michigan residents on pipeline route face eminent domain lawsuit

The company also wants to expedite the process, which usually takes months, in order to seize the lands and start clearing trees. It is required to clear trees before March 31, in order to protect the Indiana Bat, an endangered species.
U.S. District Court Judge Mark A. Goldsmith is considering Energy Transfer’s motion for a preliminary injunction that would allow the company to take possession of the land immediately, in order to stick to a tight schedule, according to court records. A court hearing last Thursday lasted all day and will resume March 9.

The pipeline will transport an estimated 3.25 billion cubic feet of natural-gas produced in the Marcellus and Utica shale formations, passing through West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan, and then on into Canada.

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It will run through Pinckney State Recreation Area and Putnam, Marion, Iosco and Handy townships, before linking up with an existing Vector pipeline south of Fowlerville, eventually running into Canada.

Pipeline officials estimate the pipeline will produce $147 million in tax revenue, including $6 million in Michigan, as well as create an estimated 1,000 to 1,500 construction jobs in Michigan and 10,000 along the entire route.

ET Rover spokesperson Alexis Daniel said the company anticipates having the entire project in operation by November.
ET Rover is operated by Energy Transfer Partners, the same Dallas, Texas, company involved in the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline that became the subject of a standoff between the government and Native American activists and their supporters.

Among the property owners named as defendants in the eminent domain lawsuit in Livingston County are William and Wilma Atkinson of Marion Township.

A hand-lettered sign on M-36 in Putnam Township protests the proposed Energy Transfer Rover pipeline, which federal regulators approved Feb. 2. (Photo: USA Today Network)

"They want to build an access road through our property, but we have not agreed to that yet," William Atkinson said.
"I'm not happy about eminent domain. I don't think it's right they can do that."

The pipeline route passes within a few hundred feet of the Atkinsons' property along existing power lines, and he said the company needs a way to get around a pond during construction.

"The road would not be far from my swimming pool, and we don't want to use the pool in the summer with pipeline trucks going through. It cuts by a tree swing our granddaughter plays on. To get to the swing from the house, she would have to cross the roadway. I don't want them to cut trees down. I don't want it through my backyard," Atkinson said. "If they really need to get around the pond, they can use other access points."

Originally, the pipeline route would have run through Atkinson's property, but the route changed. "They offered us several thousand dollars because they thought they were going to run the pipeline through. Then they offered us less for the road. I didn't like the offer," he said.

When asked to comment on the use of eminent domain, the company said that negotiating voluntary easements is "our first priority."

"However, when that is not possible, we use legal as a last resort," ET Rover spokeswoman Daniel wrote in an email.
The company is trying to exercise eminent domain because "offers have been rejected or such affected landowners have failed to respond, thereby preventing negotiations," the suit states. "Timing is of the essence, and maintaining the project schedule is critical, as a delay in construction of the Rover Project would likely prevent Rover from meeting the needs and requirements of its shippers while at the same time complying with its (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) obligations under the certificate."

Livingston County Drain Commissioner Brian Jonckheere said ET Rover has handled things differently than other pipeline companies he has dealt with. His office was served with the suit because the pipeline will cross several drains in the county.

"There has been very little interaction. It's been difficult for my staff to talk with them. It's a different tack than we've seen with other pipelines we've worked with," Jonckheere said. "It seemed very abrupt that we were served without warning. And we still haven't been served with some of the papers."

He said he does not like it when the drain commission has to sue for eminent domain, but when it does the process can take six months.

"It appears they are going to try and bulldoze their way through the process," he said

(temporary pipeline jobs, semi-permanent EXPORTING OF GAS, NOT FOR OUR USE but falsely promoted as energy independence, ALL FOR CORPORATE /STOCK PROFITS. Above is one of hundreds of stories of abuse by weaving pipelines for oil or gas all across our states. There is no thought for environmental methods of digging, only carte' blanche destruction of natural lands. It is all roughshod - do it, get it, be gone, leave all your waste behind, screw tomorrow & the lands destroyed.) Anyone that thinks gas/oil/coal/mining industries do not require regulations is harming Americans where they live and breathe - their homesteads)

http://www.freep.com/story/news/loca...unty/98492332/