Surveying, Mapping and GIS

The Tennesseean is reporting of a brawl between Midwestern Gas Transmission Co., of Omaha, Nebraska, and several property owners along a 30-mile stretch of proposed gas transmission line.

Midwestern has evidently argued that State law "gives any condemning authority the right to do surveys without a landowner's consent". Apparently Tennessee Law states that a company's representative can enter land even before a petition seeking condemnation is filed.

A year ago, Midwestern was sued in Sumner County Circuit Court, on the basis that they had not sought any federal permits for the proposed pipeline, and now the issue has been brought back up before the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

It will be interesting to see how this case turns out...