Bret Dublinske, a lawyer for Summit Carbon Solutions. (Dave Bordewyk/South Dakota NewsMedia Association via the North Dakota Monitor)
( via the North Dakota Monitor) – A carbon dioxide pipeline company has asked courts to pause or dismiss its pending legal fights against landowners and a state regulator in South Dakota after the state’s adoption of a law that prevents the company from using eminent domain.
Eminent domain is a legal process for acquiring access to land for projects that have a public benefit, with compensation for landowners determined by a court. It’s commonly used for projects such as electrical power lines, water pipelines, oil pipelines and highways.
Some South Dakota landowners who oppose the Summit Carbon Solutions project sued to stop the company from surveying their property. They argued that doing so without just compensation was unconstitutional because soil sampling and other invasive practices would occur.
Summit said it had a right to survey the land because it had eminent domain authority. The company sued some landowners as well.
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