And you thought your area's land values went up?
Friday, April 4, 2014
The Canadian Press reports that, at press time, nearly one-third of Nebraska landowners whose property lies in the path of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline are saying no to "skyrocketing" payment offers by TransCanada Corp., who want to start building this year.
One family told CP that their 2012 $8,900 guarantee has gone up to $61,977.84. But, if they wait, the $27,000 signing bonus included in the payout will drop to $18,000 after 30 days and a big fat zero after 45 days.
Third-generation farmer Ron Crumly and wife Jeanne say they wouldn't sign for $1 million. "It literally feels like you're selling your soul to the devil," says Ron Crumly. "It's like a test of my constitution." They are concerned that a pipeline leak on their remote property could not be fixed before diluted bitumen leaked through the region's sandy soil into the groundwater.
If they don't sign, the more than 100 Keystone holdouts could end up hosting the pipeline anyway. The law of eminent domain, in which a government or corporation can seize land if the proposed project is deemed a public good, has already been used to build a portion of the pipeline on the land of Texas rancher Julia Trigg Crawford after she had refused to sell. Under eminent domain, just compensation must be given. CTV reports that there's a cheque for more than $10,000 waiting for Crawford. Instead of cashing it, she's suing TransCanada. BF