If you have been receiving unexpected visits or letters from a pipeline company, your property is likely located on the proposed petroleum pipeline route that would to run 360 miles through 12 Georgia counties.
Kinder Morgan, the largest energy infrastructure company in North America, owns or operates approximately 80,000 miles of pipelines.
Now the company plans to build a steel pipeline to transport 150,000 barrels of gasoline, ethanol and diesel daily from Belton, S.C., southward through Georgia’s coastal counties — traveling 4 feet underground along the Savannah River and other environmentally sensitive areas — to Jacksonville.
At this stage of the process, you may be contacted by a Kinder Morgan surveyor seeking permission to look around your property. Surveyors may be aggressive and insistent upon getting your signature on their documents.
However, you do not have to sign anything. If you refuse their request and they do not leave your premises, or persist in harassing you, call the police.
As a property owner, you have the final say about whether representatives of a private company are allowed to come onto your land and what they are allowed to do there. You can also rescind any permission you may have already granted the surveyors to come onto your property by sending a certified mailj, return receipt registered letter to:
Kinder Morgan, 1001 Louisiana St, Suite 1000, Houston, TX 77002, with the following information:
Date:_________
Re: Rescinding property access
As the owner of the property located at ______, I am rescinding permission previously granted to the Kinder Morgan Company, its representatives, contractors, sub-contractors or associates, to enter my land to perform surveys, or for any other purpose.
Any physical entry onto my property from the date of this letter forward will be considered unauthorized, and treated as trespass.
(Your signature)
The company applied on Feb. 13 to the Georgia Department of Transportation for a certificate of public convenience and necessity, which, if approved, will authorize it to condemn property from private citizens.
If your land lies along the proposed path, Kinder Morgan would be granted a permanent easement of 50-100 feet to enter your property for surveying, constructing and maintaining the pipeline.
You would be offered a one-time payment for the easement and, although you would not be able to use the land, you would still have to pay property taxes on it.
According to Georgia Law, the decision on whether Kinder Morgan will be granted eminent domain is in the hands of just one person, GDOT Commissioner Russell McMurry, who reports to Gov. Nathan Deal.
The Fifth Amendment states that private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation.
However, it is the right of the states to make their own decisions about what qualifies as public use. In April 2006, Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue signed House Bill 1313 into law. (http://www.senate.ga.gov/sro/Documents/Highlights/2006Highlights.pdf)
This legislation stated that economic development is not a “public use” that justifies the use of eminent domain.
The law also states that when entities with condemnation authority are considering the acquisition of property through eminent domain, the condemning entity must notify landowners in writing prior to filing the petition of condemnation.
According to a Landowner’s Notice of Rights, Georgia law requires that the entity make a reasonable effort to negotiate the purchase of your property. However, if an agreement cannot be reached, the property may be taken.
If your property is ultimately condemned, the Georgia Constitution requires that you be appropriately compensated. If you are not satisfied with the amount, you may file an appeal with the Superior Court asking for a jury trial to determine whether the planned use of the property is for a public use and/or whether the condemnor has the legal authority to exercise the power of eminent domain.
Know your landowner rights and take action.
Charles Bowen is a business attorney who focuses on commercial, banking and manufacturing law and also offers comprehensive mediation services. He may be contacted at 912.544.2050 or cbowen@thebowenlawgroup.com