MEDINA: Three appeals court judges on Tuesday heard 33 minutes of oral arguments in the continuing fight over survey access in Medina County for the $2 billion Nexus Pipeline.
The Akron-based 9th District Court of Appeals will decide the case at sometime in the future, Judge Donna Carr said at the conclusion of the short hearing. About 35 Medina County landowners attended the session.
Also hearing the arguments were Judges Carla Moore and Beth Whitmore.
The Texas-based Nexus Gas Transmission LLC has won 17 court decisions on access in 11 counties along the pipeline’s route including appeals’ court decisions, said attorney James Hughes of Bricker & Eckler LLP in Columbus, who was representing the pipeline company.
Ohio state law grants the pipeline companies access to private property to determine if it is suitable for a pipeline, he said.
The company has not lost a case in Ohio over access challenges on the Nexus Pipeline that will carry natural gas across northern Ohio, he said.
It won legal cases in Stark and Wayne counties. A lawsuit in Summit County involving 56 landowners in Green and New Franklin is pending.
Attorney Greg Huber, representing Medina County landowners, argued that Ohio law on allowing access was unclear and said the pipeline company had not followed all the provisions in state law.
Landowners have little ability to block such surveys and that is “a recipe for trouble,” he said.
Last Oct. 6, Medina County Common Pleas Judge Christopher Collier had sided with the pipeline company. He said Ohio law supports the company on allowing access to private property.
But Collier halted surveys in Medina County until the landowners’ appeal has been completed.
The company had filed suit last July against 113 Medina County landowners.
The Nexus Pipeline must be approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The 250-mile pipeline would carry natural gas from Ohio’s Utica Shale west to Defiance and north to Detroit and Ontario, where it would connect with existing pipelines.
It would be 36 inches in diameter and could transport enough natural gas to fuel 6 million homes.
If approved, construction could begin in early 2017 and the pipeline could begin operations late that year.
The pipeline is being developed by the Texas company along with Detroit-based DTE Energy and Texas-based Spectra Energy Partners.
The city of Green and a grass-roots group, Coalition to Reroute Nexus, have urged that the pipeline be rerouted to southern Stark and Wayne counties and away from developed areas in Stark, Summit and Medina counties. That would affect about 103 miles of pipeline. The pipeline company has resisted that proposal.
Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com.