2018
Barr v. Atlantic Coast Pipeline, LLC
Supreme Court of Virginia
815 S.E.2d 783
Atlantic Coast Pipeline, LLC (ACP), by its second amended declaratory judgment petition, sought to enter non-consenting landowner’s property pursuant to Va. Code § 56-49.01(A) to conduct a survey. Barr demurred, asserting statute’s right of entry must be to both satisfy regulatory requirements and select the most advantageous route. ACP’s required notice only stated the second purpose for entry. Trial court found for ACP and granted right of entry. Supreme Court affirmed, holding the statute was in the disjunctive, and as entry could be made for either purpose, the notice was sufficient. The Court declined to answer whether an improper application of the statute could amount to an improper taking under Article I, § 11, of the Constitution of Virginia.
Dissent by Justice Kelsey asserted the statute was in the conjunctive, and as ACP had not yet received a certificate from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, ACP had no authority to enter by eminent domain.
Summary prepared by Judge Jonathan Apgar, 23rd Judicial Circuit in Virginia, for the William & Mary Property Rights Project, Marshall-Wythe School of Law, William & Mary ©2019.
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