Recent news reports that Dominion will get court orders to survey private land for Atlantic Coast Pipeline should not intimidate landowners, says WV SORO
From the Barrack Report, Special to the Appalachian Chronicle, November 14, 2014
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Recent news reports that Dominion Resources has sent letters to landowners threatening to use court orders to gain access to private land to conduct surveys for the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline has confused and frightened landowners. However, an organization based here – the West Virginia Surface Owners’ Rights Organization (SORO) – has responded that it has resources available for landowners who have been approached by Dominion and other companies.
The Atlantic Coast Pipeline is planned to span about 550 miles, from Harrison County, West Virginia to Southeastern North Carolina. It would also include a spur running from near the Virginia-North Carolina border to Hampton Roads, Va.
According to the Raleigh News & Observer, “Dominion Energy said Tuesday it sent letters to 226 land owners in North Carolina and two other states who have refused to allow the company to survey their land for the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline route. The Richmond, Va.-based company said the letters are a final attempt to get the land owners to cooperate before Dominion seeks court orders to gain entry onto the properties to conduct survey work.”
In response, SORO is advising landowners that if they do not want surveyors on their land they could deny the surveyors permission until the company was granted eminent domain powers by having its project approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. According to SORO, under West Virginia trespass laws, landowners can exclude anyone from their property by posting, fencing, or telling them to get off unless the person or entity has a deed, lease, right-of-way or some other interest that would include the right to conduct surveys. This right must be backed by a legal document. If a surveyor cannot produce a document, landowners can tell them to leave.
“After we updated our pipeline information, we were told that landowners were getting letters citing a section of West Virginia’s eminent domain law and claiming it allows surveyors to come onto people’s land before an eminent domain proceeding is initiated or finished,” said Julie Archer, project manager for SORO. She continued, “However, even if this statute applies, in West Virginia eminent domain laws may only be exercised for a ‘public purpose.’”
West Virginia cases determining whether gas or oil pipelines are for a public purpose usually considered the pipelines operated by regulated utilities that supply gas directly to consumers and businesses as “a true public purpose.” The cases have not involved companies engaged in the exploration, production and transportation side of oil and gas, which is used for sales between private businesses.
Archer offered, “We think this is an important distinction for several reasons, but being made aware of the letters did not change our advice much. We anticipated that landowners might be sued if they denied access to the surveyors, and after learning of Dominion’s plans to sue landowners our advice remains essentially unchanged.” She explained, “If you are sued, you should get a lawyer if you can.
If you can’t get a lawyer for some reason, don’t let yourself be intimidated. File an answer in the lawsuit, show up at any hearings, and just say you do not think they should be able to take your land because it is not a public enough purpose.”
Archer said that landowners who are sued can contact WV SORO at 304-346-5891 for a referral. Archer can also be reached at julie@wvsoro.org. Learn more by visiting the group’s website.
The Appalachian Chronicle is a publication of the Appalachian Preservation Project, LLC
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