Senator Jeff Taylor of Sioux County introduced bill SF 2160 that bans eminent domain for private projects on agricultural land like the proposed Summit and Navigator pipelines.
The bill was introduced into the Senate Commerce Committee and a subcommittee meeting is expected to be scheduled soon. Landowners and the public will be able to speak up at the subcommittee meeting.
Summit and Navigator have been lobbying legislators across the state to take no action on the pipeline issue, against the will of legislators’ constituents to address Iowa’s weak eminent domain law.
Many excuses not to take action have been raised by legislators and the pipeline companies, but landowners say there is no excuse not to take action to protect Iowans and the land now.
“We voted them in and if they are unwilling to put their constituents above these companies’ private profits, we will vote them out.” said Dan Wahl, farmer and landowner in Dickinson County.
Some legislators have expressed that we shouldn’t change the law when there are two or more pending projects in the state, but landowners say now is the exact right time to take action.
“The threat is here now, why would we wait until it’s too late?” said Wahl.
Other legislators have said that the companies have been working on the plans for years and it wouldn’t be fair to change the rules on them now.
Landowners were not made aware of these destructive plans until early August. The pipeline companies chose to do it behind closed doors, excluding the landowners. That is no excuse for our legislators to ignore this important issue.
Finally, The Sierra Club has heard from legislators that passing a bill this session sends the wrong message to supporters. The Sierra Club strongly believes there are very few supporters other than those who stand to profit from the pipelines. Legislators need to focus on sending strong messages to their constituents that they will put people over profits.
“We believe Summit has very few signed easements at this point. That is why they don’t want to file the list of properties that will require eminent domain (Exhibit H) in their petition for a permit. Summit has been putting out PR that they have hundreds of signed easements and are getting more all the time. They should be required to file Exhibit H to prove this.” Said Wally Taylor, attorney for the Sierra Club Iowa Chapter.
“Many of our legislators campaigned on eminent domain. Now is their chance to show us if they will practice what they preach or if it’s time to find someone who will.” said Jess Mazour, conservation program coordinator for the Sierra Club Iowa Chapter.
Sierra Club Iowa Chapter encourages all landowners and everyday Iowans to contact their legislators and tell them to put people over profits and support SF2160 to protect Iowans and the land from eminent domain abuse.