TransCanada Wins One, Loses One in Court

TransCanada won the first court skirmish yesterday over its desire to seize land through eminent domain for its Keystone Pipeline through South Dakota. Judge Jack Van Wold ruled that TransCanada does not need permission from the Legislature to use eminent domain against South Dakota landowners. No surprise there -- eminent domain is decided in court.

However, while that Sioux Falls paper headlines the story with "Judge Rules in Favor of TransCanada," KELO notes that landowners got a ruling in their favor as well. TransCanada, ever in a hurry, wanted the judge to move the actual condemnation hearings up to April or early May so they could start digging as soon as possible. (You'd be in a hurry too, if you had 590K barrels of oil a day to move at $91 per barrel.) Judge Wold said no, wait your turn, the condemnation hearings happen in June as planned.

A small victory for landowners, but the little guys in this will take every break they can get. Landowners can use the extra time to do research on the oil industry and the law to support their argument that TransCanada isn't offering them a fair deal. If the condemnation hearings take long enough, TransCanada may have to wait until 2009 to start digging. And if nothing else, every extra month that passes before TransCanada starts tearing up earth and pumping oil through the prairie is time during which technology and procedures can improve. Take your time, Judge Wold, and take your time, TransCanada. If we have to have a pipeline, let's build it slowly, and let's build it right.

Oh yeah, and let's give the landowners a fair deal. They're doing TransCanada a great favor by handing over their land; they deserve not just some one-time payment, but a regular cut of the profits, not to mention guarantees of the best safety and clean-up procedures.