Supreme Court wrestles with New Jersey pipeline case apnews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from apnews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The 49 parcels at issue in the case include public state-owned land as well as private land with conservation easements. The project would cross dozens of waterways and wetlands, as well as the main stem of the Delaware River.
In a brief filed by PennEast Pipeline, company lawyers argued the case was of “immense national importance,” and could disrupt how the natural gas industry has operated for 80 years, including providing “a road map for converting state lands including beds of rivers that form state boundaries into barriers to pipeline development.”
The Natural Gas Act, passed in the 1930s, authorizes the federal government, through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, to deputize private companies building gas pipelines so they have eminent domain authority to seize land from unwilling property owners. But the two sides disagree over whether Congress meant to allow private entities to sue states for eminent domain takings.
By Syndicated Content
By Lawrence Hurley
WASHINGTON (Reuters) â The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday wrestled with a bid by a group of energy companies seeking to seize land owned by New Jersey to build a $1 billion natural gas pipeline, as the state argues that its rights would be trampled.
The justices heard arguments in an appeal by PennEast Pipeline Company LLC, a joint venture backed by energy companies including Enbridge Inc, of a lower court ruling in favor of New Jerseyâs government, which opposes the land seizure.
Other companies in the consortium for the 116-mile (187-km) pipeline from Pennsylvania to New Jersey include South Jersey Industries Inc, New Jersey Resources Corp (NJR), Southern Co and UGI Corp.
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