Washington D.C. — On Wednesday, May 5, 2021, at 10:00 a.m., Rep. Jamie Raskin, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, will hold a hearing to examine poor treatment of farmers by Cheniere Energy, which owns the Midship pipeline in Oklahoma.  Ahead of Wednesday’s hearing, the Subcommittee released a video outlining the harm Cheniere has caused to landowners along the Midship pipeline.  

Click here to watch the video.

On February 19, 2020, the Subcommittee launched an investigation into the use of eminent domain in the construction of natural gas pipelines.  On April 28, 2020, the Subcommittee released preliminary findings of the investigation revealing that the natural gas pipeline approval process used by FERC is unfair to private landowners. 

On November 20, 2020, the Subcommittee expanded its investigation by requesting information about procedures that FERC uses to resolve conflicts between landowners and energy companies.  On December 10, 2020, the Subcommittee held a hearing at which FERC admitted that it does not use existing authority to protect landowners.  

 This hearing will focus on Midship/Cheniere’s actions to demonstrate how FERC routinely allows pipeline companies to put pipelines into service before the companies meet their obligations to repair damage they caused to individuals’ land.  Over the past year, Midship/Cheniere has missed several deadlines to repair private farmers’ land, threatening their livelihoods, while facing minimal consequences from federal regulators.

WHAT:	Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Subcommittee hearing entitled “Pipelines Over People (Part II):  Midship Pipeline’s Disregard for Landowners in Its Pathway”
WHEN:	Wednesday, May 5, 2021, at 10:00 a.m.
WHO:	Christopher A. Smith Senior Vice President, Public, Government and Public Affairs Cheniere Energy Rob Squires Landowner Advocate Squires Consulting, LLC Terry Luber Oklahoma Farmer
WATCH:	A livestream will be available on YouTube and the Committee on Oversight and Reform website.

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