Can a foreign corporation use eminent domain on U.S. Land?
The 4,000- mile long TransCanada Keystone Pipeline begins in Northern Canada, and moves southward into the United States, through North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri and Illinois. The network is about five times the length of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline. When complete, the project will deliver up to 1.5M barrels a day of crude oil to US refineries in a 36-inch diameter pipe. Pipeline construction is designed to extend from Canada all the way into Texas’s Gulf Coast area.
This project was the subject of a recent story on Fox News Channel, where McKirdy & Riskin’s Anthony Della Pelle provided commentary – watch the video here.
The first leg of the pipeline began moving oil this past summer through Canada into the US. There is now a phase which will complete the route to the Gulf Coast refineries. Since the pipeline crosses international borders, the U.S. State Dept. has authority over its approval and specifications. Various other federal agencies, including the EPA, are also involved and will review the environmental impacts, pipeline safety and spill response capabilities.
The oil traveling through the pipeline is heated and pressurized — environmental groups refer to it as toxic tar sands. They refer to the Gulf oil spill earlier this year as an example of the potential impacts of an oil pipeline project, and other opponents suggest that it is an ecological disaster waiting to happen.
TransCanada has stated that this pipeline is safe, and will bring energy and jobs to the U.S. areas where it is located. Opponents include landowners facing eminent domain which may ultimately be used by TransCanada to obtain property rights it needs for the project.
Utility companies like gas, electric and oil companies typically have a limited right to eminent domain and their right to use this power must normally be approved by separate government agencies. Those regulatory procedures are supposed to provide the public with protection to properly use the power.
What makes this project somewhat unusual is the fact that the utility company is a foreign company doing business in the U.S., which would be cloaked with eminent domain power if it obtains authorizations from all necessary federal and state agencies. Approvals for the second phase are now under consideration by the federal government. Stay tuned for more.
Related Articles
- Public Attitudes Towards Eminent Domain (reason.com)
- Wyo. wind task force favors eminent domain limits (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
