Pipeline eminent domain case reaches Iowa Supreme Court

The fact that members of the general public could, in theory, invest in the nine shippers who control 90 percent of the crude oil that passes through the Dakota Access pipeline, is sufficient to create a public benefit, an attorney for the pipeline told the Iowa Supreme Court Sept. 12.
Brett Dublinske said court precedents allow for eminent domain even when a very small, specific part of the public will retain use of the property.
“This court’s prior case law is really clear,” he said. “The legislature here has been extremely explicit … where the board has found in its expertise that an applicant should be awarded a permit, then they shall be granted eminent domain. There is ample case law that this particular type of use is in fact a public use.
Further, Dublinske said, public use can also refer to a situation where very, very few people actually will use the land or finished construction project. Anyone in the public could have invested in the oil shippers who have contracts with the pipeline, he said.
Read more in the Sept. 19 edition.