dbeard@dominionpost.com
MORGANTOWN – Thirty-one condemnation suits filed by Hope Gas against western Monongalia County landowners along the planned route of its new Morgantown pipeline continue to work their way through Mon County Circuit Court.
Hope is asking the court to grant entry and easements in order to undertake construction of its Morgantown Connector Project.
Seven cases have been settled and closed and the details are not public. The rest are in various stages of progress.
In a number of cases, the court is holding Hope’s petitions in abeyance pending Hope’s provision of proposed fair market valuations of the properties in question.
In others, the court found that Hope is a West Virginia public service corporation that provides public services in the state and is authorized to exercise the right of eminent domain “to take private property for the public purpose stated … upon payment of just compensation.”
In this last group of cases, the court permits Hope to deposit with the court clerk the amount that Hope estimates as just compensation. As of Tuesday, nine cases were in this stage.
The offered sums vary widely: $200; $2,100; $5,212.50; $5,800; $10,100; $12,700; $30,500; $36,500; $41,800. In some of these, the landowners are still seeking to have Hope’s case dismissed.
One case stands out as particularly contentious. It’s the one where Hope has deposited $30,500. The entire property is 106.2 acres and hope is seeking right of way across a total 5.57 acres. As Hope sought, the court order prohibits the owner from building anything over or through the right of way. It also grants Hope permanent right of ingress and egress.
And there lies the problem for the landowner. The grant would enable Hope to use the entirety of the owner’s land outside the easement corridors, the landowner contends, “without affording or even offering just compensation or adequate protections or safeguards,” rendering the entire property an “an uneconomic remnant and useless.”
Therefore, the landowner says, any grant to Hope should be limited to the defined corridors of the “Taken Easements.” Any entry outside those easements would be considered willful trespass.
The landowner asks the court to limit the taking to a single 16-inch pipeline, with nothing above ground, and no use of chemicals or herbicides. The owner also asks the court to require Hope to bury the pipe 36 inches deep so as not to interfere with agricultural use, to install fences and gates at either end of the easement, and to reclaim and restore the land.
Hope previously said it cannot comment on active litigation, but supplied these general comments on Tuesday:
“The Morgantown Connector Project creates multiple benefits to the communities in the Morgantown area. For example, this project will ensure adequate, affordable gas supply for homes, businesses and hospitals and enable the Morgantown area to have access to energy needed to promote economic development and growth.
“The project continues to move forward and Hope has a commitment to work with local contractors and suppliers when at all possible. The project will create hundreds of local family-sustaining jobs for West Virginians.
“We understand the affected landowners require accurate information and may have questions. At the start of the project, Hope Gas assigned a dedicated land agent to each landowner. Hope’s approach continues to be to offer fair and reasonable compensation that reflects fair market value. These dedicated agents will continue to engage with landowners throughout the process and hope to reach voluntary agreements,” Hope said.
The Morgantown Connector Project will run a total 30 miles from Wadestown in western Monongalia County eastward to the edge of Morgantown and then northwest to site near Osage.
Hope wants to build the pipeline because it is experiencing a decline in supply capacity above its peak-day requirements. Also, Morgantown Energy Associates and other Morgantown-area customers want to increase their supply levels. In order to meet the demand, Hope proposed to enter into a 15-year contract with Columbia Gas for gas to be supplied to a new Hope-Columbia interconnection near Wadestown.
The pipeline is estimated to cost $177,437,169. Hope estimates that the project will generate about 600 jobs, which will make up about half the project cost. Other major costs are the 30 miles of pipeline and five measurement and regulation stations.
