Property Rights Rally in Pierre, Jan. 13

Legislators and citizens in favor of eminent domain reform will gather at noon central time, in Pierre, South Dakota on the eve of the legislative session to show a display of support for private property rights. The meeting will be in the state capitol rotunda.

Amanda Radke, a rancher and professional ag speaker will address the crowd, along with legislators including Representative Karla Lems, Senator elect Mark Lapke and Representative Jon Hansen, and farmer Ed Fishbach. Radke’s 10-year-old daughter Scarlett will speak as well.

Radke said the event will kick off a legislative session that she hopes results in eminent domain reform.

Summit Carbon Solutions, a carbon capture pipeline company, seeks a South Dakota permit to build a pipeline across the state (as well as through Iowa, Nebraska, and parts of Minnesota and North Dakota) that will sequester carbon from ethanol plants and transport it to Beulah, North Dakota, where it will be deposited underground.

Summit sued many South Dakota landowners who chose not to sign easements, in an effort to condemn their land via eminent domain. But a state Supreme Court ruling determined that Summit is not a “common carrier” and therefore cannot legally use eminent domain to force landowners to sign easements.

Radke has spoken on behalf of property owners at legislative committee hearings and rallies multiple times over the past couple of years. While she originally got involved because she wanted to defend property rights in general, the recently updated proposed pipeline route now comes within a mile of her family’s home, allowing it to connect to POET, a corn processing plant near Mitchell, South Dakota. “As a mom, I have a lot of concerns about that. If there was a leak or rupture, it could be devastating. And we have a lot of neighbors now affected by the proposed pipeline.”

She said Summit sent letters to those on the route, and those on the periphery with the letters arriving right over the Christmas holiday. “I said it was like the Grinch who stole Christmas. It puts a pit in your stomach to see what’s coming,” she said. “This company has not been kind to many of the landowners on their path.”

Radke expects to see legislation that would provide protections for South Dakota landowners from companies like Summit who seek to use eminent domain for private gain.

“We’re asking legislators to follow the will of the people and enact eminent domain reform,” she said. Radke points out that 65 of 66 South Dakota counties voted against RL 21, the ballot initiative with the SB 201 language that weakened county authority to establish setback rules for incoming pipelines.

“If you want to participate in carbon capture programs, that’s one thing, but if you want to force it onto other people, that’s another.”

“I’m concerned about land usage and seizure and control. To me this is a really big deal. This will decide if we really control the land under our feet or if we are for sale to the highest bidder,” she said.