Bayou Bridge Pipeline 'Trampled' Landowner Rights, Court Rules
LAKE CHARLES, La. (CN) — A Louisiana appeals court ruled Thursday that Bayou Bridge Pipeline, which was constructed as the final stretch of the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline, “trampled” landowners’ rights when it cut across their properties without their permission.
The company cut down hardwood trees, trenched and laid pipelines without ever first receiving authorization from property owners. Only after the property owners complained, the company sought the land it desired through eminent domain.
The Third Circuit Court of Appeal for the state of Louisiana reversed a lower court’s ruling that the plaintiffs were entitled to just $150 apiece for their land and awarded them instead $10,000 plus legal fees for violation of the landowners’ due process rights. But the court said the pipeline company was entitled to take the land through eminent domain, since doing so is legal under Louisiana law.
Louisiana is one of the few states where oil and gas companies can expropriate land if their project is deemed to be for public benefit.
https://www.courthousenews.com/bayou-bridge-pipeline-trampled-landowner-rights-louisiana-appeals-court-rules/
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