Ill. Farmers Fight Off Pipeline

LE ROY, Ill. -- This expanse of central Illinois is flat as a pancake, with corn and soybean fields stretching to the horizon, interrupted only by a smattering of small towns.

But it is also a 175-mile missing link in Enbridge's Alberta-to-Texas pipeline network to transport gooey, thick bitumen oil sands to Gulf Coast refineries.

By connecting the southern Illinois oil transport hub of Patoka with an Enbridge pipeline near Pontiac, the Canadian firm, in partnership with Exxon Mobil, could beat out other companies that have also announced plans for pipelines connecting Canada to the Gulf Coast.

Several farmers are standing in Enbridge's way, however, refusing to let the company build the pipeline through their land. At a public meeting, Bob Kelly, 81, called Enbridge "highway robbers." He said there is no way he will allow the company to tear up farmland that has been in his family for 125 years. "It's not for sale at any price," he said.

Washington Post

BRITTON, S.D. (AP) -- A Marshall County judge has ruled that TransCanada Corporation does not need legislative approval to use eminent domain for its Keystone Pipeline.

Judge Jack Von Wald denied a request Tuesday to dismiss condemnation proceedings against about 20 landowners.

TransCanada plans to build a 590,000-barrel-a-day crude oil pipeline from Alberta, Canada, to U.S. refineries in Illinois and Oklahoma.

The company and the landowners have not been able to agree on easements that would allow the company to run the pipeline under their land.

TransCanada is awaiting a ruling from the Public Utilities Commission on the project and goes to go to court in June with individual landowners who haven't signed easements.


Argus Leader