The Lawsuit and Drones
The North Dakota Central Judicial Court Case 18-2014-CV-01058 filing by North Dakota Pipeline Company LLC, suggests James and Krista Botsford are screwed. NDPC claims a right to exercise power of eminent domain, and that it may enter and condemn the Botsford's land, use right of way, casements, and the property for the construction, maintenance, or authorization of the Sandpiper Pipeline.
This includes "ingress and egress from a public road or right-of-way, in order to survey, locate, construct, operate, maintain (including cathodic protection systems), clear, inspect (including aerial patrol and subsurface digging), reclaim, remove, protect, idle in place, repair, replace, relocate, change the size of and reconstruct a single pipeline, together with any associated valves, fittings, location markers and signs, communication systems and lines, utility lines, safety and protective apparatus, and all other equipment and appurtenances, whether above or below grade." (Direct quote from the Complaint) Aerial patrols can and may include drones over the property.
The heart of the Botsford's legal response is the "Abusive overreach of the use of eminent domain by a (foreign) corporation for private gain," James Botsford says. "They want a 99 year lease that they get whether the pipeline is built or not and that they can sell to any other entity for any other purpose at any time in the 99 years. Eminent domain to take private property is supposed to be restricted to a particular public purpose."
Eminent domain assumes that North Dakota residents will benefit from this pipeline.
On the surface, this does not seem to be the truth.
The Sandpiper pipeline will run from North Dakota to Superior, Wisconsin, on the shore of Lake Superior. So, far, the only shippers disclosed by NDPC are Marathon Oil, a part owner of the project incorporated in Delaware, and Enerplus, a Colorado shipper. The Sandpiper is a conduit for money and there are no cash withdrawal machines for residents or landowners along the route in North Dakota.
Indians Jump State Lines and Join the War
Although over 700 landowners in North Dakota took the money, Botsford has found an unlikely group of supporters. He is not standing alone. Ironically, it may be a group of Native Americans who will ride to the support and rescue of a white farmer and his next of kin.
James Botsford is a white attorney who has worked extensively on behalf of Native people for decades, and serves as a judge for the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. Although retired from his law practice, Botsford is regarded nationally by Native Americans for his work on "Rueben Snake on Religious Freedom."
Honor the Earth will have representatives at the August 11trial in a show of support and as part of the 3rd annual Love Water Not Oil Tour. The group of Minnesota Indians and supporters has a vested interest, since the Sandpiper pipeline, part of which Enbridge wants to force through the Botsford property, involves construction of a new 375-mile, 24-inch diameter line from Beaver Lodge, N.D. near the Fort Berthold Reservation to the current terminus of the NDPC system at Clearbrook, Minnesota. This will add 225,000 barrels per day (bpd) to the existing 210,000 bpd of capacity. The Sandpiper also includes a new 375,000 bpd, 233-mile, 30-inch diameter line to be built extending the NDPC system from Clearbrook to connect with the Lakehead Pipeline mainline terminal at Superior, Wisconsin. Then there is also the proposed addition of another line in Minnesota, Line 3, which when combined with the other lines would pump more oil than the Keystone XL through ceded treaty lands. The Indians are faced with a potential oil super corridor through sacred wild rice and fishing waters.
Enbridge does not yet have final approval to build the Sandpiper in Minnesota, but has exercised an abundance of hubris and prematurely stacked pipes just outside of Itasca State Park, headwaters of the Mississippi River. Minnesota tribes are angry. They were shut out of the preliminary approval process and Sandpiper is a deadly threat to sacred wild rice beads and violates treaties. The tribes claim eminent domain in Minnesota, but Enbridge is stacking its dented and dropped pipes anyway. "Dents caused by placing pipe on rocks," is mentioned in a flyer listing of typical issues that have been identified by US Department of Transportation (PHMSA) inspections of new pipeline construction projects.
Hiding Behind the Marathon Connection
The Botsford's response states that the "major motivating factor of the Sandpiper project was an effort to assure Marathon Petroleum Corporation, an equity owner of the pipeline and the 'anchor' committed shipper, that Sandpiper will enable it to deliver crude oil to its Illinois and Ohio refineries." Marathon's termination of its commitment would of course also terminate Sandpiper. Is the rationale for building Sandpiper an effort by NDP, acting in concert with Marathon, to ensure a supply source to the Marathon refineries?
If so, this arrangement benefits no one except the oil companies.
And who are the oil companies? NDPC is not offering that information as disclosure, citing confidentiality regarding proprietary information and confidential shipper information. "Common carrier oil pipelines are prohibited from disclosing confidential shipper information under Section 15(13) of the Interstate Commerce Act."
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