Pennsylvania family fails in court to save sugar maples from pipeline

[Lodestar]

Source: Reuters

A federal judge ruled on Friday that a Pennsylvania family that runs a maple syrup business cannot stop most of their trees from being cut down to make way for a shale gas pipeline, but he stopped short of charging them with contempt of court.

Judge Malachy Mannion of the U.S. District Court in Scranton said his previous order allowing the tree-cutting could not be challenged in court.

But he said lawyers for the company building the Continental Pipeline failed to prove the five defendants who own the property were guilty of obstructing the tree cutting.

//

The $875 million Continental Pipeline, due to be operational this autumn, would run 124 miles (200 km) from Montrose, Pennsylvania, to Albany, New York. It would bring gas from fracking wells to the New York and New England markets.



Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-pennsylvania-fracking-idUSKCN0VS1DX

[forest444]

1. Like a bad Dukes of Hazzard episode or a third world dictatorship

Last edited Sat Feb 20, 2016, 01:19 PM - Edit history (1)

"Screw your maple trees. Boss Hogg has a lot ridin' on that there pipeline project - if you catch my drift."

[GummyBearz]

13. Good analogy

I'm probably more pro business than most here. The pipeline is a business, but their maple trees are a business too. Why screw over the existing business in favor of another? Geez... this story just pissed me off on a nice saturday morning. I feel bad for this family

[forest444]

15. Like the robber barons of old.

During the commodity price bubble a few years ago, I remember hearing anecdotes of Wall Street vultures bribing local judges in the southwest in order to force farmers out of their land. Byzantine zoning violation chages would "suddenly" appear, together with astronomical fines and penalties.

After a short, futile fight in the courts, the farmland would inevitably go up for auction - where it would be bought by (you guessed it) the same Wall Street vulture that bribed the judge.

The fat fuck probably looked like Boss Hogg too!

We laugh to keep from crying, right?

[GummyBearz]

16. I guess we do...

I just thought about this in contrast to the idiots who occupied that national park in Oregon. If they were useful idiots, they could have pulled their stunt to protect this family's maple trees from getting taken out by a gas pipeline corporation.

[melm00se]

2. how can a lower court

judge say that a ruling can't be challenged (i assume by appeal).

[pscot]

30. corporation's rules

TPP will make this the law of the land.

[cynzke]

36. Expect To See.....

More private property owned by American citizens condemned and given to foreign companies.

[turbinetree]

3. Really, destroy ones lively hood so a greedy company can pollute the water, air, and food source-

great thinking there judge, great priorities, way to go, with more of the Doctrine of Discovery 2016 style of rulings.

You were so kind not to charge them with contempt, because you know, it is on there land, and you know it is a business for them to make maple syrup, and they didn't want a gas line, you know that pesky thing called private property, will they still have to pay taxes on things that are not there like maple trees for starters, how about if the gas line leaks into there ground water.

But some gas company entity was just more important .......................




Great foresight------------


Honk---------------for a political revolution Bernie 2016

[mpcamb]

32. Agreed. Passing off a destructive, time-limited, regressive product for a benign renewable one.

Don't see the justice in it.
You can always find enough legal mumbo-jumbo to suppoert either side of an argument.
This is where a judge is supposed to use his better sense.
Public money would be better spent finding out who these weasels had lunch and cocktails with, and then failed to recuse themselves in these cases and have them tossed off the bench.

[turbinetree]

33. It is truly amazing........................

[SoapBox]

4. Outrageous.

For gawd's sake people...get out and vote to change America...that Political Revolution is needed.

[shanti]

35. right on!

this is exactly what bernie is talking about!

[tk2kewl]

5. .

for trees

[NutmegYankee]

6. So one business can legally destroy another business.

What a fucking outrage. Just reroute the pipeline.

[EL34x4]

9. It's all good. The Supreme Court said so.

Kelo v. City of New London. The gift that keeps on giving.

[NutmegYankee]

10. I'm well aware of that case. I live in New London County.

The sad irony is the land where the homes were torn down is still barren. I look out at it every day from work.

[The Jungle 1]

14. stinking rotten money grubbing scum

It is just plain criminal that nothing has been done with that property in New London. It should be given back to the real owners.

Spread the word Trump loves eminent domain. All developers do. I wonder if he will use eminent domain to build his wall.

Also be aware that they want to build pipelines all over Pa. We know they are going to steal our property and pollute our state. Just like the coal barons did. We have 6000 miles of dead streams in Pa thanks to the coal barons. Guess who pays to clean up that mess. All this and the republicans who control our legislature refuse to tax the gas drillers. Not that there is anything going on now that oil prices are so low.

[malthaussen]

19. Just move to Montgomery or Bucks...

... somehow, those two counties where all the rich folk live are exempt from fracking and its consequences. I happen to live in Montco, though far from rich. There are a lot of peasants in both counties, too.

-- Mal

[The Jungle 1]

40. Bucks

I live in Bucks.
Apparently there is some gas in Nockamixon township

[Odin2005]

21. Decided by the supposed "liberals" on the court no less.

[HooptieWagon]

26. Yep, true.

I think it's the only time in my life I've agreed with the conservative faction of the SC. Kelo was a bad decision.

[packman]

7. Doesn't - sadly - surprise me

as an ex-Pennsylvanian I grew up knowing that coal, gas, oil and big business rules over all. I doubt very much that you could find a town, township, city, or village in Pennsylvania that hasn't been corrupted by the energy octopus that runs the entire state from local judges, sheriffs and mayors to the state senators and congressmen. They have their arms of influence in every governmental entity in the entire state.

[tabasco]

8. Unconscionable

I'm sure the corrupt Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) rubber stamped the company's pipeline application. FERC gives private companies the right of eminent domain to take property and destroy people's lives. Energy companies have a lot more money than us common people and we live in a plutocracy.

AMERICA IS COMPLETELY BROKEN.

I'm afraid it will only get worse before it gets better. IF it ever gets better.

[2banon]

11. omg. this is what have we here. Big Money RULES

The Courts, Congress, The Whitehouse, State and Local offices,

[blackspade]

12. So much for the 'defending small businesses' narrative that.....

The establishment keeps pushing.

Does this stupid judge think that trees grow over night?
Assholes.

[jtuck004]

17. So much for peaceful, now they are using armed government thugs to destroy this family.

If I am ever on a jury from the aftermath of this I will be on that families side, no matter what they do to oppose these evil, murdering bastards.

...
"The 120-foot (37-m) wide pipeline right-of-way would force the felling of up to 200 maples, or about 80 percent of the family's sugaring trees.

The company and the family have made no agreement regarding compensation for the land, which was transferred by an "eminent domain" court order declaring the pipeline in the public interest."
...

Not in my pubic interest it's not, especially while we watch Oklahoma shaking itself to pieces, or the long-frozen ice and carbon thawing at the poles.

For the lives he is going to shorten and the damage he will do, that judge might just as well have pulled out a gun and started shooting people. If you are under 30, your life is at risk, over 30 at least your home and property.

This will hurt for a long time in a lot of different ways.

[litlbilly]

18. Just watched Gasland 2 yesterday. This shit has to stop

[Odin2005]

20. The Banana Republic of America.

[Efilroft Sul]

22. Cabot Oil & Gas is involved in this.

Their press spokesperson is a fellow high school graduate of mine. I never thought he'd go over to the Dark Side, knowing how he once was back in the day.

[rockfordfile]

23. This is un-American

[Bayard]

24. Wait a minute

Unless the pipeline company bought the maple tree farm, how do they get imminent domain to basically seize it? And I thought that could only be declared for the "public good" for something like a road?

[tabasco]

28. FERC gives them eminent domain. n/t

[kentauros]

37. Right.

At the same time, I don't know why the pipeline company couldn't have compromised and gone with a HDD (horizontal directional drill) under their property. They do that kind of thing all the time, especially for situations like this. It makes me wonder if that was offered, then rejected by the property owner, and so the pipeline company went with FERC-allowed eminent domain, and then the HDD wasn't required...

[tabasco]

38. Money

Boring underneath a stream or other feature is a lot more expensive and cannot be used in all areas. It's just cheaper for the pipeline company to take the land with the almighty power of eminent domain bestowed by FERC and leave the poor landowner up the creek without a paddle or a maple orchard.

[kentauros]

41. Yes it's cheaper. But not all pipeline companies just have their way with eminent domain.

Some do try to work with the landowners and will drill under a property. I've seen the routes, maps, and HHD drawings where that's been done, especially if it's part of the landowner's business. They don't all act like bullies towards people and their property along the routes. But, there are always companies like this one.

[Bayard]

25. Actually just read the article

And I can't spell eminent!

But looks like their land was taken by eminent domain, except they've never been compensated.

They have had this farm for more than 60 years. Super sucks.

[LiberalLovinLug]

29. "The company and the family have made no agreement regarding compensation for the land"

Yes, this struck me a well. I was wondering why they (the owners) were acting so submissively. Maybe its because the company is threatening them with NOT paying them an adequate compensation unless they back off and not only that, discourage others from trying to stop the felling as well. I mean, if they have no recourse but to accept this, couldn't the company just pay them whatever they want? Or a minimum compensation for the land value only (not the business loss)?

I wonder what the judges cut is.

[Sunlei]

31. probably wanted more money. I had to sell land for ED for a new road. First offer is a low ball.

Those Corps know most people just take the first 'offer'.I didn't have income producing sugar maples to lose but a row of 100 year old oak trees.

The business who wants to "take" your land will offer a very low price first and one does have a right to negotiate a higher price.

Their sugar maple trees have a large business value, they need a Lawyer to project the family income loss over the trees lifetime. Even regular Land ecology and future value is forever changed when large trees are gone.

[Marty McGraw]

27. and the state will get

sued, I'm sure, from the NAFTA courts if the seizure move falls through. Nice cozy clusterfuck a few cheap sell-out have riddled us with

[Coventina]

39. This makes me so angry I have no words!!