COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolinian property owners want their land protected from pipeline companies, too.
In the wake of Georgia’s rejection of a Texas corporation’s application to construct the Palmetto Pipeline through private land, Sen. Tom Young, R-Aiken, has filed legislation that would require a company to win approval from both the S.C. Public Service Commission and the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control before condemning private property through eminent domain.
Last month Georgia Department of Transportation Commissioner Russell McMurry denied Kinder Morgan’s application for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity required to condemn private property for the $1 billion project. The decision culminated 3,000 public comments, a campaign against the project by the Savannah Riverkeeper and numerous public gatherings.
The pipeline company is expected to file a legal appeal.
“That actually brought to light some concerns about whether South Carolina didn’t have the same protections that Georgia has. That probably resulted in more concerns
being expressed,” said Sen. Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, a co-sponsor of Young’s bill, S. 868, as is Sen. Nikki Setzler, D-Lexington. A similar bill, H. 4326, was introduced in the House on Wednesday, by Aiken County lawmakers.
“When they see what Georgia’s DOT has done, then they want to know if we have the same protections,” said Massey. “And I think the initial research shows that we may not.”
What exactly South Carolina allows a private company to do through eminent domain is a thorny matter. Lawmakers have asked the state Attorney General to issue an opinion, which may be completed by the end of the month. An opinion, however, does not carry the weight of law.
“I have a lot of constituents that live in North Augusta, Beech Island and Jackson or the surrounding areas who have been contacted that they may be impacted by the proposed pipeline,” said Young. “They have a lot of questions about what the law is, as I do, too.”
Kinder Morgan thinks it has the answers. Company spokesman Melissa Ruiz said in South Carolina, a pipeline company may exercise condemnation rights without state agency approval.
“The procedures under Georgia law are therefore different,” she said in an email.
As a statutorily authorized contemnor, Palmetto Products Pipe Line must adhere to the requirements of the South Carolina Eminent Domain Procedures Act, should it choose to exercise its right of condemnation by instituting a legal proceeding, said Ruiz.
“These procedures, along with judicial oversight, provide protection to landowners with respect to any condemnation that becomes necessary,” said Ruiz.
But she said: “Palmetto Products Pipeline LLC hopes to avoid exercising its rights under South Carolina law and will do so only as a last resort where an agreement cannot be reached with landowners.”
The company had already hired Columbia-based Copper Dome Strategies before the Georgia DOT decision, including lobbyists Billy Routh, Jeff Thordahl and Kimberly Kent, but retained them as “government affairs professionals” to educate lawmakers rather than to lobby them. But Kinder Morgan’s hired help could become more aggressive in Columbia, now that legislation targeting the Palmetto Pipeline has been filed.
Young said he hopes to hold hearings on the bill after the Legislature adjourns Thursday in the months before the start of the new legislative session in January.
“We felt very strongly several weeks ago that we needed to go ahead and get legislation drafted and get it filed,” said Young.
The 360-mile pipeline would move petroleum products from Belton, S.C., to Jacksonville, Fla., passing through 600 private land tracts in nearly a dozen Georgia counties along the way. The structure would carry 167,000 barrels per day of diesel, gasoline and ethanol.
Residents of South Carolina and Georgia have also protested the environmental harm and risks of routing a pipeline through their communities. South Carolina regulators continue to address more than 300,000 gallons of gasoline that leaked from Kinder Morgan’s pipeline in Belton, S.C., after a structure failure in December.
But the biggest worry among Massey’s constituents is the taking of private property.
“There is a lot of public concern and anger that a private entity can use eminent domain,” Massey said. “We’re just trying to figure out what restrictions are available and whether we need to improve upon them.”