UPDATED: Judge Rules On Kinder Morgan’s Pipeline Lawsuit

Staff Reports

Judge Lora Livingston, 261^st Civil District Court Judge, has made a decision regarding the TREAD Coalition’s lawsuit against Kinder Morgan and the Texas Railroad Commission, according to one of the parties involved in the case.

According to a press release from Kinder Morgan, the Travis County District Court has dismissed all claims made against the Permian Highway Pipeline Project.

Tom Martin, president of Natural Gas Pipelines for KMI, said, “The court’s finding validates the process established in Texas for the development of natural gas utility projects, as well as the steps we have taken to comply with that process. We will continue to engage all stakeholders as we work to complete PHP.”

A Hays County official has confirmed that the county has received an “adverse ruling in the Kinder Morgan case.” However, the exact details of the decision were not known.

On April 22, Hays County and the City of Kyle held a joint press conference to announce the filing of a lawsuit against Kinder Morgan and the Railroad Commission (RCC) of Texas.

The county and city of Kyle joined local landowners to challenge the RRC’s process for granting private pipeline companies the power of eminent domain to build pipelines.

The lawsuit asked that the RRC be ordered to follow legislative mandates and “adopt administrative rules, policies and practices that provide objective, enforceable standards for the exercise of eminent domain authority” by pipeline companies.

TREAD released the following statement on the decision: “We respect but disagree with Judge Livingston’s ruling. We continue to believe the Texas constitution does not allow for the delegation of this awesome power to a private company without oversight. This issue should be heard by an appellate court. We are weighing our options for an appeal and planning additional legal actions in other venues to challenge this severely problematic route.”

Corridor News is awaiting more information regarding the decisions as well as a statement from the other parties involved.  

This article will be updated as more information is released.