Northwest Property Rights Coalition

Steamrolled

Dear Commissioners (New and Incumbent), Last night I received this message which I find very troubling. It is a Notice of Intent for eminent domain of private land and installation for Palomar Gas Transmission Inc, LLC. Deadline for receiving comments is January 30, 2009.

As a property owner about to face eminent domain as a result of this application, I wasn't even notified of this action. It seems that only those that follow the FERC site religiously can keep up with the issues. It is overwhelming to be in this position.

The process of siting the Palomar Pipeline is marching on with great rapidity. Based on FERC's policy of basically approving all applications no matter what, there's seems to be nothing to stand in the way of our state being steam rolled into submission except our willingness to present a unified front and ask for accountability.

As citizens of Clackamas County and the State of Oregon facing eminent domain regarding this pipeline, what can we do? The issues are technical, far-reaching and the consequences permanent. In the past, the County Commission indicated that it would be willing to help the citizens of the County facing eminent domain when the time came. It appears the time has come. We are asking you to convene a work session as early in January as possible in order to discuss what this action on the part of Palomar Pipeline really means, the consequences of this action on the impacted citizens of Clackamas County and what we can do about it.

We also ask that you immediately write a letter to the Governor of Oregon asking for the State's assistance in intervening on behalf of the impacted citizens of Clackamas County and the State of Oregon in this matter. As always, we appreciate any and all interest and assistance.

Sha Spady
Oregon Citizens Against the Pipeline
Molalla Chapter

Violated

I now understand what all those impacted by LNG-related pipelines are experiencing. I am embarrassed by my apathy.
Forced to move prematurely to our new farm home with my husband and two young boys due to the flood in Vernonia, I was too consumed by my own immediate situation and did not look into the whole impact of this pipeline.

The pipeline originally was to cross the lower part of our hay field. I did not like it, but I figured it was big money, big greed and big power what difference would I make anyway. Now, the new route is within 100 feet of my fresh water supply, heads up the hillside and cuts across the veins that feed my spring and well. I cannot just drill another well; many have tried in this area. We have the only viable fresh water well within a 3 mile radius. I don't want to have to install a whole different water system; we have spent thousands on this one. The pipeline company refuses to give us anything in writing that will ensure that they will pay for the loss of water or the rebuilding of any new access to water.

I feel violated.

Jamie
Clatsop County, Oregon

Living on the Pipeline

Glenn Archambault and Terri Magruder of Phoenix, Oregon tell of the 20-year ordeal that turned their dream farm into a nightmare.
(Full Story)

Appalled

My five acres is surrounded on three sides by my in-laws property and they received a letter from Oregon Pipeline describing the proposed route for the 36" diameter pipeline that would originate from the proposed LNG plant in Warrenton. I am appalled at the fact that they didn't notify me as well, since the line would be within approximately 500-600 feet of my house. I realize that my situation is different from property owners who face having the pipeline installed on their property, but I want to try to prevent the project from being built near my land and residence. My late wife and I moved to this property 25 years ago and I built our house myself. Our intention was to live a peaceful existence and embrace the the forest and rural lifestyle that surrounds the property. Unfortunately I lost my wife of 34 years to cancer, but my intentions are to continue to reside here indefinitely.

David
Clatsop County

Tree Killer

We own 135 acres of forest land in the Timber-Glenwood area of Washington County. The LNG pipeline is scheduled to transect our land, taking out a swath of 20-year old Douglas Fir trees. We strongly oppose the Oregon LNG proposal for personal reasons (it will destroy thousands of our trees) and more general reasons: the Warrenton facility and pipeline will contribute to global warming.

Martha & Allen
Washington County

Unjust

We have approximately 150 acres of timber land in Cowlitz County. If the Bradwood Pipeline is approved, we stand to lose not only standing timber, but also prime plantations of Douglas fir that we replanted ourselves. It is between 10 and 15 years old. The proposed route will take the pipeline within 40 feet of our barn, built in the 1880's. We are trying to maintain the land as a working farm, where my in-laws began their life here in 1932. This pipeline would decimate our land, running from the NW corner to the SE, where the HDD drilling point for the Cowlitz River would take out old pear trees and ruin our best pasture. We must work on our representatives to change the Energy Policy Act of 2005 that gave FERC the power to take our land from us under Eminent Domain. This is a gross miscarriage of justice.

Gayle Kiser,
Cowlitz County

Stressed Out

The theft of my time and stress over this mess has almost ruined my connection to this land that has been my entire focus for 17 years - the thought that it could be violated by for-profit corporations keeps me up at night writing speeches. It has put stress on my closest relationships. I am ashamed of an America that fosters laws like the 2005 energy bill which allows the bullying of citizens and ignores the land use laws of our state. I am ashamed of anyone who works to impose such indignity and duress on my friends and neighbors. I am ashamed that an alleged local company like Northwest Natural would seek to balance it's greedy profit margin on the backs of earnest Oregonians who have nothing to gain and everything to loose by the presence of a hazardous product like non-odorized high pressure natural gas. Our lives and lands are far too valuable to be the dump for ugly and dangerous projects rejected by other states and countries.

Susan Hansen,
Molalla

I Feel Your Pain

I am not a landowner threatened with condemnation, but I know the pain of losing property last year to an unwanted wastewater pipeline.and I agree with the resolution described below. They should use existing right of ways, not EFU and forest lands, if they must put this dastardly pipeline in. I equate this process the same as what happened to the Indians when the Government lied so the gold seekers (for profit companies) could intrude into Indian lands.with no concern who or how the land got hurt.

Pat,
Molalla

FERCed:

On September 25th, 2007 I learned that a Palomar proposed route for a 36-inch natural gas pipeline would transect my 60-acre farm. It is hard to convey how upsetting this is in a way that will make others feel equally disturbed. I know this because, I will confess, when I thought the pipeline would travel two-miles to the west, I was not as upset. “Not in my back yard? No problem then.”

What makes it so visceral that I am not eating or sleeping well?

Part of it is the piercing of the illusion that your property is inviolate. I was intellectually aware of this as a former planning commissioner in two states and one who is aware of the Fifth Amendment’s “just compensation” clause. But I will assert and confirm that nothing prepares one for the emotional impact of being stepped on by Godzilla.

Part of it is fear of the unknown. Will the pipeline leave a visible and ugly scar on the landscape spoiling the view? Will I feel the same sense of peace and tranquility that originally led me to this bucolic setting? The same sense of privacy when a corporation has license to traverse my land at any time? Will my property, part of my retirement plan, be reduced in value beyond the formulaic compensation of eminent domain?

Part of it is intensely personal. It is the height of irony that after spending 4-years of building a low-impact house (www.auerhaus.org), cleaning up and restoring a neglected farm to productivity, and doing everything possible to reduce my use of fossil fuels to the bare minimum, I find I am to become part of an IV-drip to a hydrocarbon addicted California (the place I tried to escape from).

Part of it is intensely personal too. I am in the early stages of Parkinson’s. I may have only 5 to 10 years before I will be forced to leave the farm I love. I had planned to spend them in peaceable enjoyment of my home and property. Now it seems, even as my ability to do so wanes, I will be spending time researching LNG, attending meetings, possibly suffering a couple of summers of a massive construction project, and living in a general state of anxiety.

So call me a NIMBY, but do it with some sympathy and some respect. The bullet I take might just as well have been aimed at you.

Marc Auerbach
Birkenfeld