Mountain Valley Pipeline v. Brian C. and Doris W. McCurdy

I personally do not believe private, for-profit, corporations should have the power to take a person’s land by eminent domain. However, the laws enacted by our Legislature clearly allow such a taking.

This case presents a different wrinkle in the law of eminent domain: A private, for-profit, corporation seeks to take the landowner’s property through the power of eminent domain to build a natural gas transportation pipeline. Before taking the property, the corporation seeks entry onto the land to survey the proposed route of the pipeline.

Our Legislature has expressly authorized private…