Domina Law Group Managing Attorney Brian Jorde was recently quoted by The New York Times in an article about the ongoing legal battle between Midwestern landowners and CO2 companies that want to use eminent domain to bury pipelines in the region: “A Different Kind of Pipeline Project Scrambles Midwest Politics.”
As reported by The New York Times, companies are attempting to broadly use eminent domain throughout the Midwest to bury pipelines throughout the region. However, the pipelines won’t be carrying oil, but instead will carry carbon dioxide (CO2), which will be injected into underground rock deposits. The companies, joined by some politicians and environmentalists, claim the solution will help the environment by preventing countless tons of CO2 from being released as airborne pollutants instead. Others, including many of the landowners being told to give up their land for an eminent domain paycheck, are skeptical of the plan’s benefits—and its fairness and legality.
Many of the landowners in the area are agricultural landowners or cattle farmers who are having déjà vu over the entire situation. Not long ago, they were either in or adjacent to farmland disputes and environmental law conflicts about the proposed Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipeline. The thought of fighting with CO2 companies like Summit and Navigator CO2 Ventures (Navigator) in lawsuits about the underground CO2 pipes and the sweeping use of eminent domain is frustrating, to say the least. Yet some are hopeful because they are armed with a secret weapon this time: Attorney Brian Jorde.
As quoted in The New York Times article, Attorney Brian Jorde said, “From being through an 11-year battle and all the twists and turns and the hundreds of lawsuits [referring to Keystone XL lawsuits], we’ve got a very well-laid-out plan.”
Attorney Jorde and others from Domina Law Group were entrenched in Keystone XL litigation as representatives for landowners in the region. Today, he is at the forefront of CO2 pipeline litigation as the chosen attorney for many of the farmers who would lose their land and ways of life if the pipelines are buried as planned. Using all the knowledge and experience gained from the oil pipeline lawsuits, which set many important legal precedents, Attorney Jorde feels like he and his clients have a head start this time around.
Domina Law Group’s stance has always been that utility and industrial corporations should be free to start projects after using voluntary landowner consent through easements, but not through eminent domain or, of course, threats. After all, eminent domain was meant to be used by the government and for public use projects, not by private corporations like Summit and Navigator.
With days, months, and years of legal conflict over the proposed underground CO2 pipelines likely to pass, the fight will surely draw in more environmental experts, landowners, and legislators. Ultimately, it could be settled in heated courtroom battles. No matter how the situation turns, though, Attorney Jorde and Domina Law Group will be ready to protect the rights and best interests of their clients however possible.
You can read the full article that features Attorney Jorde here.