Federal Judge Malachy Mannion sustained his previous order against the petition of a Pennsylvania family disallowing the tree cutting to make way for a shale gas pipeline, but he stopped short of charging them with contempt of court.
Judge decided that the five defendants were exonerated from the contempt charge because the lawyers for the company building the Continental Pipeline failed to prove the guilt of five defendants in obstructing the tree cutting.
"But I'm going to direct that U.S. Marshals are empowered to arrest or detain anyone who obstructs the felling of trees," judge said. "Then they will be brought before me for a contempt hearing."
In 2015, eminent domain has been granted by the federal government to Oklahoma-based Williams Partners to cut down those trees and many more throughout Pennsylvania to make way for its Constitution Pipeline.
In Reuters, it is reported that pipeline project is worth $875 million that runs 124 miles and will connect Marcellus Shale gas in Susquehanna County. It will carry fracked gas from the shale fields to consumer markets in New York and New England states.
However, the landowners did not accept easement prices offered by Williams and have fought the company's eminent domain status.
"There are consumers, power plants and utility companies there that are still getting their natural gas from the Gulf of Mexico or Canada," said Chris Stockton, spokesman for Williams Partners. "There's gas right in their backyard that they can't tap. The Constitution Pipeline was designed to change that."
Williams has put up a $1.6 million bond to cover potential settlements with the New Milford landowners and six others in the area who opposed the company's offers.
After a legal debate in early October, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission on Oct. 24 said Sunoco Logistics qualifies as a public utility.
During the first week of November, the Philadelphia-based company announced plans for a $2.5 billion pipeline that spans 350-miles and cuts through 14 counties in southern Pennsylania.
Power of eminent domain is the power of a state or a national government to take private property for public use. However, it can be legislatively delegated by the state to municipalities, government subdivisions, or even to private persons or corporations, when they are authorized to exercise the functions of public character.
However, specific amounts have not been publicly disclosed.
