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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 1, 2016
Contact:
Jane Kleeb, 402-705-3622, jane@boldnebraska.org
Nebraska Judge Orders TransCanada to Pay
Legal Costs of Keystone XL Landowners
TransCanada ordered to pay $8,844.21 to each of 19 Holt County landowners; claims in other counties may push total payments near $500,000
Holt County, NE — Landowners in Nebraska who fought the Keystone XL pipeline get to declare independence today from TransCanada, after a Nebraska district court judge ordered the foreign oil corporation to repay all legal fees and costs incurred by Nebraska landowners who fought the company’s eminent domain claims against their property in court.
Holt County District Court Judge Alan Brodbeck ruled that 19 landowners who sued TransCanada should receive $8,844.21 each to reimburse their court fees and costs.
An additional 37 landowners have similar cases against TransCanada pending in other Nebraska counties.
Attorneys estimate that if similar rulings are reached in the remaining cases, TransCanada will be ordered to pay around $500,000 in total to the Nebraska landowners who fought back against the company’s bullying and threats of eminent domain.
“TransCanada bullied their way thru our state forcing landowners to defend the most basic American value of property rights. Today landowners get to declare independence from a foreign company who forced eminent domain for private gain down farmers’ and ranchers’ throats,” said Jane Kleeb, founder of Bold Nebraska and president of the newly-formed Bold Alliance.
“It’s a great day in the heartland for landowners on the rejected KXL route. Thank you to Domina Law for standing with us,” said Byron “Stix” Steskal, one of the lead plaintiffs in the Holt County landowners’ case against TransCanda.
“I knew that we had the best law team in the nation to voice our concerns. I am thankful that Judge Brodbeck was able to hear us when all of our elected representatives were deafened by the sound of TransCanada’s false claims,” said landowner Jeanne Crumly, another plaintiff in the case.
“We are pleased for our clients and that there will be some relief for everything they endured,” added attorney Brian Jorde of Domina Law Group, which represented the landowners suing TransCanada.
