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Judge rejects effort to stop pipeline
05/22/2008 10:34:14
By Eric Stock
A DeWitt County couple has lost its legal fight to prevent a Canadian oil company from buying easements along their property, for a proposed pipeline that would run through Central Illinois. A federal judge has ruled in Enbridge's favor -- in the lawsuit filed by Carlisle and Deanna Kelly. The lawsuit claimed that a pipeline that had been built along that easement in the 1940s -- from Patoka to Heyworth -- has been abandoned, but U.S. District Judge Jeanne Scott said the easement could still be used for that purpose, even if Enbridge installs a new, wider pipeline. Enbridge spokesman Joe Martucci says the company considers the ruling a key step toward the new pipeline becoming reality.
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But the Illinois Commerce Commission will have the final say in July whether Enbridge will have eminent domain powers to buy out hundreds of landowners.
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