Texas Court Makes Proving Common-Carrier Status More Difficult

On Aug. 26, 2011, the Supreme Court of Texas issued its opinion in Texas Rice Land Partners Ltd. v. Denbury Green Pipeline-Texas LLC (No. 09-0901), which provides landowners yet another avenue by which to frustrate and delay common carriers’ acquisition of pipeline easements. Simply put, this decision makes life a little more difficult for companies trying to exercise the power of eminent domain.