BOONE, Iowa—A Boone County jury found in favor of a Boone County landowner in a case challenging a decision by the Boone County Compensation Board in an eminent domain case involving the Dakota Access Pipeline. The Associated Press released this article:
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A central Iowa landowner who claims she wasn’t paid enough by oil pipeline builder Dakota Access to compensate for the value of her farmland has won a $250,000 jury verdict.
Judith Lamb, who owns 150 acres near Ames, says the $90,100 a county compensation board gave her to allow the pipeline to run through her land isn’t enough.
After a six-day trial last week, a Boone County jury Wednesday ruled in her favor.
The Iowa Utilities Board in 2016 granted Dakota Access the power of eminent domain. The pipeline was completed in June 2017.
A lawsuit filed by nine landowners challenging the constitutionality of forced-taking of their land is pending before the Iowa Supreme Court. Several other landowner have lawsuits pending over soil compaction, tile damage and crop loss.
Lamb and her husband Richard expect another trial in August involving a 147-acre parcel they own.
Attorneys for Dakota Access did not immediately respond to a message.
The Lamb’s had reportedly sought $900,000.
(Associated Press)
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