Attorney Brian Jorde was recently featured in the July 2013 issue of Nebraska Farmer magazine. The article, written by Don McCabe, details the formation of NEAT. "NEAT" is an acronym for the Nebraska Easement Action Team, an organized group of landowners whose land is going to be effected by the TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline. Mr. Jorde represents NEAT.
"NEAT was formed by those landowners with our assistance to develop a standard Nebraska Easement Agreement and to negotiate our terms and not TransCanada's," Jorde says.
In sum, Jorde is advocating for the Nebraska landowners in NEAT because he wants to ensure that they are treated fairly in this TransCanada agreement. While some have signed the easement agreement, allowing TransCanada to build their pipeline on their property, others have refused thus far. For those who have signed the agreement, Jorde is looking into rescission law. For those who signed early on before they fully understood the ramifications, this could possibly get them out of the agreement.
TransCanada began to contact landowners back in 2010. According to Jorde, there is high risk for the Nebraska farmers and landowners and a high reward for TransCanada. Signing the easement also means that the landowner has certain responsibilities to uphold, which Jorde says are ambiguous and can be dangerous. Jorde and NEAT are not advocating to eliminate the pipeline plans, but rather advocating to get a better agreement for the benefit of Nebraskans.
If you would like to learn more about Attorney Brian Jorde of Domina Law Group, NEAT or view the article in full, visit Those in Pipeline Path Organize.