Iowa landowners sue over Bakken pipeline

Two Cherokee County couples living along the Dakota Access pipeline route have filed lawsuits against the company's attempts to use eminent domain to seize farmland easements.

On Friday, Bill Hanigan of the Davis Brown Law firm filed suits on behalf of Verdell and Marian Johnson and Marvin and Bonnie Zoch opposing the authority, according to a statement.

The law firm argues that the Iowa Utilities Board misinterpreted Iowa law - specifically a 2006 law aimed at protecting farmland - when it ruled earlier this year to allow Dakota Access the use of condemnation proceedings along the route.

This isn't the first time Iowa landowners have challenged the pipeline in court.

A Cherokee County judge last fall dismissed a lawsuit filed on behalf of three landowners making a similar argument that Dakota Access didn't have the right to use eminent domain. The judge said process had to be exhausted first - in other words, other agencies needed to rule on the matter first - before the case could be heard in court.

Cherokee County compensation commissioners are set to begin meeting June 13 to begin valuing farmland eyed for eminent domain. The lawsuit asks the court to suspend those meetings and consider whether Dakota Access, a private company, can use eminent domain.

'Landowners have begun receiving notices of the county compensation commission meetings. Unless suspended, these meetings will result in Dakota Access taking possession of the farmland. We are asking Iowa courts to suspend these actions until after a full hearing on the merits of each landowner's case,” Hanigan said in the statement. 'We expect additional lawsuits will be filed in additional counties during the coming weeks.”

Dakota Access, a unit of Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners, won initial approval of a permit and eminent domain authority from the Iowa Utilities Board in March.

Utilities boards in North Dakota, South Dakota and Illinois also gave approval for the underground, interstate pipeline, but the Army Corps of Engineers still has not.

The company indicates it has voluntary easements for up to 88 percent of the 1,254 Iowa parcels held by 910 landowners along the 346-mile route through 18 Iowa counties where the pipeline would transport up to 570,000 barrels of crude oil daily from North Dakota to a distribution hub in Patoka, Ill.