More than a month after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission heard the complaints of Oklahoma landowners about Cheniere Energy’s failure to complete land restoration following construction of its 200-mile Midship pipeline in Oklahoma, Congress wants to take a look at the controversy.
The House Oversight and Reform Committee’s Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties will hold a hearing on Wednesday in Washington, D.C. It will be led by the same Congressman who led the second impeachment of former President Trump.
The hearing, entitled “Pipelines Over People: Midship Pipeline’s Disregard for Landowners in Its Pathway” will begin at 9 a.m. Oklahoma time.
Complaints from Oklahoma farmers and ranchers flooded FERC in the past year and in March, the agency ordered Cheniere Energy to carry out a prompt completion of the land restoration and get it finished within at least 60 days, as OK Energy Today reported March 20.
“Midship has failed to sufficiently resolve several specific restoration issues on agricultural lands throughout the project area,” stated the FERC order. The agency said Midship attempted to correct some of the issues but inspectors found they “remain unresolved.”
FERC stated that it expected Midship to address the land restoration issues in “an expeditious manner” and if it didn’t, the firm could be considered out of compliance with its Certificate order.
Some landowners went to court over the condition that Cheniere Energy’s construction crews left the land. Their complaints also resulted in the FERC hearing.
Maryland Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin is chairman of the subcommittee. He was also the lead impeachment manager for the January Senate trial during the second impeachment of then-President Donald Trump. Raskin was also the primary author of the impeachment article which charged Trump with inciting an insurrection on the US Capitol.
