Saturday, January 31, 2015

North Dakota State Senator Proposing "Quick Take" Provision (Eminent Domain) To Allow Oil Industry The Needed Pipeilne Easements They Desire -- January 31, 2015

The Dickinson Press is reporting that Senator Sen. Jim Dotzenrod, D-Wyndmere, North Dakota, wants to use "eminent domain" to force surface owners to acquiesce to demands by oil industry for pipeline easements. Specifically the bill would:
  • recommend a constitutional amendment creating a “quick take” provision so that if 85 percent of easements have been obtained, the operator may obtain immediate access to the remaining non-consenting landowners’ property
At least that's what I take away from the story, but there's a lot more to it, and I may have misread it. If this is important to you, go to the linked article. 

The provision is part of the a bill addressing the flaring issue in the Bakken. I'm being told that "eminent domain" is a non-starter on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation (as in "not lawful") and that's where the majority of the flaring problem resides in the North Dakota Bakken.

I like the "quick take" verbiage. That will get someone's attention. LOL. Starting to sound like Chicago politics.

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