South Dakota PUC steering clear of eminent domain questions (Audio)

PIERRE, S.D.–Hearings on carbon dioxide pipelines proposed to run through South Dakota will be held late this summer and fall in front of the Public Utilities Commission (PUC).

The lead up to the hearings has been marked by legal questions of surveyors encroaching onto private property, and eminent domain being used when negotiations between the pipeline companies and landowners fail to produce an agreement.

Commissioner Chris Nelson says the three-member PUC has nothing to do with eminent domain…

Nelson says his e-mail inbox has been flooded with comments, both for and against, the pipelines….

Nelson says the public hearings on the pipelines will be much like a jury trial, where testimony will be presented by both sides…

Nelson says when it comes to a decision on whether to permit the pipelines, the PUC will base it on facts presented during the public hearings, and the testimony they hear.