FALLS CHURCH, Va. — Much to Gary Erb’s chagrin, a natural gas pipeline now cuts across his 72-acre homestead in Conestoga Township, Pennsylvania. Similar projects have sprung up across the country as fracking technology has allowed natural gas to be extracted in an economically efficient manner. Pipeline companies have gotten around this by obtaining preliminary injunctions from judges, allowing the companies to take the land immediately and pay later. In court papers, Williams’ lawyers said that because pipeline construction is complex, delays associated with negotiating price can knock projects off schedule. In Virginia, pipeline companies building the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipelines have similarly been able to take land needed for construction before paying for property, said Chris Johns, a Texas-based lawyer who represents some of the affected landowners.

Source: National Post May 02, 2019 15:22 UTC