Articles Posted in Pipelines

Published on:

Abbott said the legislature’s response to the breakdown of Texas’ electric grid “fixed all the flaws.” News media reports and experts are questioning that conclusion.

A UT Austin study concludes that lawmakers did not do enough to prevent future power failures and recommended 20 additional policy changes. It is estimated that as many as 700 people died from the freeze.

At least part of the blame lies with the Legislature’s deregulation of the state’s power sector in 1995 that was supposed to save ratepayers money. According to a Wall Street Journal analysis, customers in deregulated areas have paid a surcharge of $28 billion over the last two decades, whereas customers in areas that remain regulated–including El Paso Electric, Austin Energy and CPS Energy in San Antonio–enjoy cheaper electric rates than those in deregulated areas.

Published on:

Much has been written lately about flares of natural gas in the Permian Basin. A website called Skytruth provides a helpful interactive map allowing amazing satellite views of flares over time. Here’s a snapshot of flares in the Permian (click on image to enlarge):

Permian-flaresOne can zoom in on the map and locate each flare. This one is just east of US 285 southeast of Orla:

FlareSince the beginning of the boom in the Permian, the Texas Railroad Commission has never denied an operator’s application for a permit to flare. With low gas prices and lack of pipeline capacity, operators have turned to flaring gas in order to produce oil.

Published on:

Tiffany Dowell, author of the Texas Agriculture Law Blog at Texas A&M, gave me permission to re-publish her excellent article on what landowners should consider when a pipeline company asks permission to survey. Here is her article. The only thing I would add is that the landowner should find out the tentative proposed route, and if it is not acceptable, try to negotiate an alternate route before the surveyors begin their work.

Thanks to Tiffany. You might want to subscribe to her blog.

Question:  If a company with eminent domain power has contacted me about obtaining an easement across my property and now wants access to survey, can I keep them off of my land?

survey-1-e1545162613218-768x1024

Answer:  No.

In Texas, courts have held that by granting condemning entities the right to condemn land, this includes the right to enter onto the property to conduct surveys to select lands to be acquired.  Of course, this means that surveys may be conducted prior to the property actually being condemned. “Ancillary to the power of eminent domain is the authority to enter upon the land to make a preliminary survey.”  I.P. Farms v. Exxon Pipeline Co., 646 S.W.2d 544 (Tex. Ct. App. – Houston (1st Dist.) 1982).  Courts have issued injunctions against landowners attempting to interfere with this right.

There is a line of court cases that limit this right to visual inspections and lineal surveys only, refusing to allow more invasive procedures like core drilling or subsurface soil testing.  See Coastal Marine Serv. v. City of Port Neches, 11 S.W.3d 509 (Tex. Ct. App. – Beaumont 2000).

Continue reading →

Published on:

This month the Texas Supreme Court refused to hear the case of Lindemann Properties, Ltd. v. Campbell, 524 S.W.3d 873 (Tex.App.-Ft. Worth 2017). Although the case involves an easement for a radio transmission tower, it provides some lessons for negotiating easements for pipelines.

In 1977 Smith granted to Campbell an easement to install a radio transmission tower on his land. The easement provided that it would be located on a tract 500 feet by 500 feet, the actual center of which would be determined by its location when installed. The easement did not specify the size or height of the tower. Campbell constructed the tower, 400 feet tall.

In 2012 Campbell decided to replace the tower, which had deteriorated in condition, with a new tower 420 feet tall. The original tower remained in place while the new tower was being constructed. The new tower was some 18 feet from the original tower.  The old tower was later removed. Continue reading →

Published on:

Landowners in Texas challenged the right of pipelines to condemn easements for intrastate lines in Texas in Texas Rice Land Partners, Ltd. v. Denbury Green Pipeline-Texas, LLC, decided in 2011. The Texas Supreme Court held that a pipeline seeking to exercise the power of eminent domain must prove that the pipeline will be put to a “public use.” The case caused a stir among pipeline companies and their counsel, and resulted in new regulations at the Texas Railroad Commission, which approves intrastate pipeline projects, and efforts to bolster pipeline eminent domain authority by legislation.

A group of landowners has now filed suit challenging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s grant of eminent domain authority for interstate pipeline projects. In Bold Alliance et al. v. FERC et al., No. 1:17-cv-01822 (Bold Alliance v. FERC), in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the plaintiffs allege that FERC does not require pipeline companies to demonstrate that their projects serve a “public use.”   The plaintiffs seek to enjoin FERC from issuing certificates of need to Mountain Valley Pipeline for its proposed 301-mile 42-inch gas line in West Virginia and Virginia,  and to Atlantic Coast Pipeline for its 564-mile 42-inch line in West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina.

After all of the concern created by the Texas Supreme Court’s 2011 decision in Denbury, the Court this year finally held that Denbury did in fact have the power to condemn Texas Rice Land Partners’ property. The Court held that “the evidence adduced by Denbury Green on remand established as a matter of law that there was a reasonable probability that, at some point after construction, the Green Line would serve the public by transporting CO2 for one or more customers who will either retain ownership of their gas or sell it to parties other than the carrier.” This is not a high hurdle to overcome. It will be interesting to see what test the DC Court applies to determine whether the projects there challenged will serve a public use.

Published on:

Denbury Green Pipeline and Texas Rice Land Partners have now fought for ten years over Denbury’s right to condemn an easement across Texas Rice’s land for a CO2 pipeline. The fight is once again, for the third time, back before the Texas Supreme Court.

The fight began in 2007, when Texas Rice challenged Denbury’s right to condemn an easement for its pipeline. That case went to the Supreme Court, which issued a controversial decision holding that Denbury had not proven its right to condemn the easement.  Texas Rice Land Partners, Ltd. v. Denbury Green Pipeline-Texas, LLC, 363 S.W.3d 192 (Tex. 2012). The case went back to the trial court and through the Beaumont Court of Appeals, and in January of this year, the Supreme Court issued its second opinion, Denbury Green Pipeline-Texas, LLC v. Texas Rice Land Partners, Ltd., 510 S.W.3d 909 (Tex. 2017), this time ruling that Denbury had proven its right to condemn as a matter of law.  See my discussion of these cases here. The case was remanded for trial on the amount of compensation to be awarded for the easement.

The most recent dispute began when Denbury sought access to its pipeline for inspection and Texas Rice refused. Texas Rice argued that Denbury had no right of access because it had been enjoined from taking the compensation funds deposited by Denbury into the court registry eight years earlier. Denbury then asked the trial court to allow it access to the pipeline, but the trial court sided with Texas Rice, agreeing that it had not complied with the requirements of condemnation statutes because Texas Rice was enjoined from withdrawing the condemnation award. Denbury then sought mandamus relief in the Beaumont Court of Appeals, which ruled that it did not have jurisdiction. Now Denbury has sought mandamus relief in the Texas Supreme Court, Case No. 17-0556.

 

 

Published on:

Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio is developing smart technology to improve the industry’s ability to detect pipeline and industry facility emissions of hydrocarbons into the atmosphere. The system uses smart computer algorithms that learn to distinguish emissions from natural atmospheric conditions and report them to be repaired. Watch the story here. Great idea. Let’s hope the industry embraces it.

Published on:

The protest movement over the Dakota Access pipeline in North Dakota has moved to West Texas. According to the Houston Chronicle, three camps are taking shape – two camps to protest the proposed Trans Pecos pipeline, near Alpine, and one camp in Toyahvale, home to the famous spring and pool at Balmorhea State Park, to protest Apache’s plan to develop its Alpine High discovery. Energy Transfer Partners, the owner of the Dakota Access line, is also the developer and owner of the Trans Pecos line. Some of the protesters who camped out in North Dakota are moving down to the camps in Reeves County. The segment of the Dakota Access line being protested in North Dakota has been at least temporarily halted by the Corps of Engineers, but efforts to block construction of the Trans Pecos line have so far been unsuccessful.

Efforts to protect the spring at Balmorhea State Park focus more on use of fresh groundwater for hydraulic fracturing than on risk of pollution of the springs. Apache claims it will not tap the spring’s aquifer but will use deeper brackish water for fracking.  But protestors remember Clayton Williams’ use of unrestricted pumping rights from the aquifer that supplied Comanche Springs in Fort Stockton. In 1951, Clayton Williams Sr. drilled 52 irrigation wells into the aquifer that fed the springs, and within hours the spring flow slowed to a trickle, and has never recovered. The Texas Supreme Court held that, under Texas’ “rule of capture,” Williams had the right to pump as much water as he wanted and had no liability for drying up the springs.

More recently, Clayton Williams Jr. has sought to sell water from these same wells for municipal supply to the City of Midland, but so far the Middle Pecos Groundwater Conservation District has blocked his efforts. The case is now pending on appeal in the El Paso Court of Appeals, Cause No. 08-16-00382-CV, Fort Stockton Holdings, L.P. v. Middle Pecos Groundwater Conservation District.

Published on:

The Denbury case that caused such a stir on the Texas Supreme Court’s first review of the case, is back before the Court again. In the first Denbury opinion, the Court held that a pipeline seeking to assert eminent domain authority had to make a showing that it was in fact a “common carrier.” The case went back to the trial court which again granted summary judgment for the pipeline company. But the court of appeals reversed, holding that fact issues existed on whether Denbury is a common carrier.

Our firm represents Texas Rice Land Partners in the appeal, and Bill Christian argued the case. The oral argument can be viewed here.

Published on:

Trans-Pecos Pipeline is pursuing condemnation proceedings to acquire right-of-way for its pipeline, a project of Energy Transfer Partners to build a 143-mile, 42-inch pipeline from Fort Stockton into Mexico. Presidio County landowner John Boerschig is challenging the company’s right to use eminent domain to acquire an easement across his ranch. Last week he sued the company in U.S. District Court in Pecos, contending that Texas laws on eminent domain deny him due process of law in the condemnation process. He argues that pipeline companies asserting the right to use eminent domain should have to prove their right to condemn before they can obtain a judgment awarding an easement. Boerschig’s attorney Renae Hicks said  “It’s a no-strings-attached, standard-less delegation of government power to a private entity. There’s no accountability, they do not have to report to anyone.” He argues that a pipeline’s status as a public utility, which under Texas law entitles it to use eminent domain, can be legally challenged only after the condemnation award of the special commissioners appointed to determine the amount owed for the condemned easement. After the commissioners’ award, the pipeline’s right to condemn can be challenged in court, but in the meantime the pipeline has the right to tender the amount awarded by the commissioners into court and begin laying the pipeline on the easement awarded. So the pipeline can be constructed even while the landowner is challenging the company’s condemnation authority.

That is what happened in the latest condemnation case decided by the Texas Supreme Court, Texas Rice Land Partners v. Denbury, , 363 S.W.3d 192 (Tex. 2012). In that case, Denbury sought to condemn an easement for a pipeline that would carry carbon dioxide across Texas Rice Land’s property. Texas Rice Land challenged Denbury’s right to condemn an easement; the trial court sustained Denbury’s authority, and it built its easement. But the Supreme Court held that Texas Rice Land had the right to challenge Denbury’s use of eminent domain, whether it was a common carrier. It remanded the case to the trial court for trial on that issue. On remand, the trial court again agreed that Denbury had eminent domain powers, but the Beaumont Court of Appeals  reversed and remanded again, 457 S.W.3d 115 (Tex.App.-Beaumont 2015). Denbury has appealed to the Texas Supreme Court, which granted Denbury’s petition for review on April 1. In the meantime, Denbury has constructed its pipeline across Texas Rice Land’s property and is using it to transport carbon dioxide.

For more on the Denbury case, read my posts here and here.

Contact Information