MINOT, N.D. (AP) - Montana-Dakota Utilities has appealed a judge’s dismissal of its eminent domain proceeding for a proposed natural gas pipeline west of Minot.
North Central District Judge Gary Lee earlier this summer ruled that harm to private landowner Lavern Behm outweighed any public benefits from the pipeline. The utility is appealing the decision to the North Dakota Supreme Court.
MDU sought to build the 3,000-foot-long (915-meter-long) pipeline to service a BNSF Railway facility. The utility obtained the necessary permits and approvals from state and federal agencies but had to resort to eminent domain to cross the private land.
The judge ruled the pipeline would be convenient but not a necessity. Landowner attorney Lynn Boughey called the decision a “huge case for property rights, and the little guy.
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