Reuters has quoted Domina Law Group Managing Attorney Brian Jorde in an article about the ongoing legal battle that’s pitting Iowa landowners against the proposed Heartland Greenway carbon pipeline.
As reported by Reuters, Jorde and our firm represents Martin Koenig and other Iowa landowners in a newly filed countersuit against Navigator CO2 ventures, a partnership between BlackRock and Valero Energy Corp that’s behind the Heartland Greenway pipeline project.
According to Navigator, the proposed 1,300-mile pipeline network would ferry millions of tons of carbon dioxide from biofuel producers in the Midwest to an underground storage facility in central Illinois, where it would be sequestered underground. Much of that network would travel through Iowa, and the company is in the process of submitting a route proposal to the Iowa Utilities Board.
But in its efforts to draft a route proposal for the Iowa Utilities Board, Navigator has sparked controversy with its attempts to use an Iowa law it says allows pipeline and storage companies to survey private property when landowners are given 10 days’ notice and an informational meeting has been held. In August, Navigator sued Martin Koenig and three other landowners over claims that they violated the law by refusing to let the company access and survey their land.
Now, Attorney Brian Jorde and Domina Law are helping landowners fight back. As Jorde told Reuters: “This fight is for the fair treatment of landowners.”
Brian Jorde and our firm currently represent landowners from all Midwest states where carbon capture pipelines such as Navigators’ Heartland Greenway and Summit Carbon Solutions’ Midwest Carbon Express pipelines have been proposed.
In addition to helping landowners challenge the companies’ attempted use of eminent domain – a right typically reserved for the government and public use projects and not for private companies to reap massive profits – Jorde is working closely with groups like the Iowa Easement Team to educate landowners about their property rights, legal options, and strategies for negotiating favorable terms in any easement agreements they may be required to sign.
You can read the full Reuters article featuring quotes from Brian Jorde here.