Gas Pipeline Pushes Its Land Seizure Challenge to U.S. Supreme Court
PennEast Pipeline Co. will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to seek a reversal of two U.S. appellate court rulings that a private company does not have authority to use federal eminent domain to condemn state-owned property.
The company is building a 116-mile, $1-billion natural gas pipeline from the Marcellus Shale region of Pennsylvania through New Jersey that would involve seizures of state land along its route, which state agencies and environmental groups oppose.
All parties agree that the rulings upend pipeline routing protocol in the natural gas industry that has operated for the past 70 years.
PennEast said the appeals court rulings disregarded Congress’s intent on pipeline regulation.
The New Jersey Sierra Club says the line threatens 1,600 acres of wetlands, forests and waterways.
PennEast has also appealed the court decisions to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which authorized the pipeline and state land seizure authority to the company last year.
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