(The Associated Press circulated the following article by Carson Walker on December 13.)
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — A dozen landowners, through attorney Bill Janklow, are asking for a delay in a planned hearing over the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad’s request to use eminent domain.
The South Dakota Transportation Commission plans to take input Dec. 22 in Pierre to determine whether the rail line can use the legal procedure to gain the right to cross private land for its proposed $6 billion expansion.
State law allows railroads to take land from unwilling owners only if a project is for a public use consistent with public necessity. Railroads must also have already negotiated in good faith to acquire the property.
The DM&E project would rebuild 600 miles of track across South Dakota and Minnesota and add 260 miles of new track to Wyoming in order to haul low-sulfur coal eastward to power plants.
The estimated cost is $6 billion, with $2.3 billion coming from a federal loan DM&E is seeking and the rest from private sources.
The DM&E project has the support of South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds, the state’s entire congressional delegation and many agricultural and business groups.
But it’s opposed by some landowners along the route, particularly those whose ranches in southwest South Dakota would be crossed by the new track.
Other opponents include residents in Pierre and Brookings in South Dakota, and the city of Rochester, Minn., and its Mayo Clinic.
Janklow, a former South Dakota governor and congressman, represents some of the landowners as a private attorney.
He sent two motions on Friday to the South Dakota Transportation Commission asking that his clients be allowed to intervene and that the hearing be postponed.
Janklow provided copies of the documents Saturday to The Associated Press and said his biggest concern is that landowners were given no formal notice of the hearing, had limited time to get on the agenda and the hearing is days before Christmas, which makes travel difficult.
“The concept isn’t bad. We need competition for railroads in America,” he said. “But this isn’t how you do it — by running over the rights of individuals and trampling them. They tried to do it but we’re going to stop them.”
His clients include: Paul Jensen; Dwight Adams and his wife; Vernon Schnose and his wife; Dr. Thomas Krafka; David and Barbara Walder; Fred and Elise Seymour; Larry and Hazel Melvin; and Melvin’s Flower Shop.
Kevin Schieffer, DM&E president, said Saturday the landowners took themselves out of the process because he tried to negotiate an agreement with them. And the railroad had nothing to do with the timing of the process or the hearing’s schedule, he said.
“I would say this is the same kind of delay tactics that the opposition to this project has used for years. There have been dozens and dozens of opportunities for landowners to participate over the years,” Schieffer said. “This is about opposition. This isn’t about timing.”
A pre-hearing conference call on the details of the full hearing is scheduled today.