Western North Dakota landowners call property rights bill 'offensive'

Western North Dakota landowners lined up Friday to testify against an energy bill they called an “offensive” taking of private property rights, while supporters said there’s a misunderstanding of the bill’s intention.

Sponsors of Senate Bill 2344 say it seeks to clarify issues related to pore space, or the cavity or void in an underground formation.

Watford City attorney and landowner Dennis Johnson brought a sponge to the packed legislative committee hearing to illustrate pore space.

“The formations below the surface have tiny pockets of space,” Johnson told members of the House Energy and Natural Resources Committee. “It is empty, but it is a container that belongs to me and, as the owner of that container, it should be up to me whether I am going to allow someone to use it.”

Read more: https://bismarcktribune.com/bakken/western-north-dakota-landowners-call-property-rights-bill-offensive/article_3539e16e-feb0-546c-a178-0be02fb5609b.html