Property Rights Outcry Stops Billion-Dollar Pipeline Project in Georgia

"Construction is suspended after landowners protest seizure of property, a judge weighs in, and the state legislature passes legislation to block it."

"Kinder Morgan, the largest energy infrastructure company in North America, announced this week that it has suspended construction of a $1 billion pipeline project that would pump gasoline and diesel fuel across the Southeastern United States. The decision is being hailed as a victory by an unlikely coalition of Republican legislators, private property owners and environmental organizations.

The announcement came the same day Georgia state lawmakers sent a bill to the state's governor that would place a moratorium on the 360-mile pipeline's construction until 2017, after they voted overwhelmingly in support of the legislation.

"Kinder Morgan has suspended further work on the Palmetto Pipeline project, following the unfavorable action by the Georgia legislature regarding eminent domain authority and permitting restrictions for petroleum pipelines," the company said on its website."

Phil McKenna reports for InsideClimate News April 1, 2016.