Domina Law Group Managing Partner Brian Jorde was recently quoted in a pair of articles detailing Summit Carbon Solutions’ initial regulatory filings for the properties it would seek eminent domain should landowners continue opposing its pipeline plans.
As reported by the Iowa Capital Dispatch and the Cherokee Chronicle Times, new regulatory filings submitted by Summit list parcels in four Iowa counties – Pottawattamie, Plymouth, Greene, and Chickasaw – that could be subject to the company’s attempts to use eminent domain. In total, the initial group of filings includes 42 land parcels possessed by 25 landowners or groups of landowners.
According to Summit, the first group of eminent domain requests may not include all the eventual requests for the listed counties, as the company reported it is still in “active discussions” with owners of property along its proposed carbon pipeline route. However, those discussions haven’t fared so well thus far. As noted by Attorney Brian Jorde in the Iowa Capital Dispatch:
“Summit’s allegations of only having 40% of the route it wants to build its experimental hazardous pipeline is a shockingly low number after the tens of millions of dollars it has spent and after the lobbying efforts and backroom deals compromising Iowa politicians. Their announcement is underwhelming and shows where the vast majority of Iowans are on this taxpayer funded land grab — solidly opposed.”
Attorney Brian Jorde and Domina Law currently represent landowners across Iowa and other states where Summit has proposed to build its 2,000-mile Midwest Carbon Express pipeline. These landowners have significant concerns about the potential health and environmental risks associated with the pipeline, as well as fears that they’ll be forced to sign involuntary easements if Summit prevails in its petitions to use eminent domain against unwilling landowners.
“Eminent domain is a gun held to landowners’ heads,” Jorde told the Cherokee Chronicle Times, adding that the property owners “have no negotiating power.”
As part of our work in the fight against the Midwest Carbon Express, Jorde and our firm have worked extensively to educate landowners about their property rights and legal options and have also filed lawsuits challenging Summit’s attempted use of eminent domain. It is our position that Summit, a private company, should not be able to use eminent domain – a right reserved for the government and public use projects – to reap massive profits for itself and its private investors.
Read the full articles featuring quotes from Brian Jorde here and here.