Mercier v. MidTexas Pipeline Co.

OPINION

Opinion by

Justice DORSEY.

This is a statutory condemnation proceeding. Landowners whose land was condemned for a pipeline right of way appeal the taking and the pipeline appeals the award of one of the landowners. The right of the pipeline to condemn the land under the power of eminent domain is challenged. We affirm.

MidTexas Pipeline Co. (MidTexas) is a partnership consisting of Teco Pipeline Co. (Teco) and Houston Pipe Line Co., with Teco as the managing partner. In 1995 MidTexas began acquiring property necessary to build a thirty-inch natural-gas pipeline from Gonzales County, Texas…