TransCanada Corporation - Keystone XL Pipeline

Keystone XL Pipeline

TransCanada is involved in up to 56 separate eminent domain actions against landowners in Texas and South Dakota who have refused to give permission to the company to build the Keystone pipeline on their land. On August 23, 2012, Texas Judge Bill Harris ruled that TransCanada could seize land from owners who refused to sign an agreement with the company. The landowners had claimed that because the pipeline was not open to other companies, it did not meet the criteria for eminent domain.

On September 27, 2012, protesters began tree sitting in the path of the Keystone pipeline near Winnsboro, Texas. Eight people stood on tree platforms just ahead of where crews were cutting down trees to make way for the pipeline.

On October 4, 2012, actress and activist Daryl Hannah and 78-year-old Texas landowner Eleanor Fairchild were arrested for criminal trespassing and other charges after they were accused of standing in front of TransCanada pipeline construction equipment on Fairchild's farm in Winnsboro, a town about 100 miles east of Dallas. Ms. Fairchild has owned the land since 1983 and refused to sign any agreements with TransCanada. Her land was seized by eminent domain.