The head of a non-profit, environmental advocacy organization is calling on the Kentucky legislature to clarify state law on eminent domain. Tom Fitzgerald is director of the Kentucky Resources Council.
He told a legislative panel in Frankfort Thursday that he does not believe the company proposing to build the Bluegrass Pipeline has the right to condemn property for the purpose of obtaining easements to it. However, Fitzgerald says if Williams and Boardwalk believes it does and property owners can’t afford legal fees to challenge that position, the company holds all the cards…
"Negotiations under the threat of condemnation are inherently unfair. And I don't know that...regardless of the economic benefits that may accrue to the Commonwealth, directly or indirectly...that we want see non-regulated, non-utilities...exercising the power to condemn the property of other landowners in the Commonwealth." - Tom Fitzgerald
Fitzgerald is urging Governor Beshear to call a special session of the General Assembly to deal with the eminent domain issue. If that doesn’t happen, Fitzgerald says, lawmakers should take up the matter on their own in January.
Williams and Boardwalk wants to construct a pipeline that would run through northern and central Kentucky and carry natural gas liquids to the Gulf of Mexico.
