Lawsuit filed in attempt to stop eminent domain abuse

Iowa landowners have filed a lawsuit to suspend Dakota Access Pipeline construction. 

On Tuesday, Aug. 9 Bill Hanigan of the Davis Brown Law Firm filed a motion to temporarily prevent construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline across the property of 14 Iowa landowners while a lawsuit remains pending in Polk County District Court. 

The lawsuit asks whether a private company, which provides no service to Iowans, may use the state’s power of eminent to seize land from Iowa citizens for its private use. 

As construction along the pipeline started in July, Hanigan asked the court for an expedited review.

Earlier this year, the Iowa Utilities Board ruled that Dakota Access may use the state’s power of eminent domain and could proceed with its proposed oil pipeline. 

Hanigan argues that the Iowa Utilities Board misinterpreted Iowa law, specifically the 2006 law designed to protect Iowa farmland and the United States Constitution. The landowners believe that Dakota Access is not a public utility and should not have the ability to use eminent domain to forcibly access Iowa landowners’ property to build a private pipeline. 

Read more in the Aug. 17 issue of The Ogden Reporter.