The jury award of $1.825 million to two farmers in Southwest Virginia was proper. So held the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in May of this year. The Fourth Circuit upheld the jury's verdict awarding two Southwest Virginia farmers $1.825 million for the condemnation of their land.
Duke Energy had earmarked $209 million to spend on a project that extended a natural gas pipeline 94 miles through the property of about 1,000 landowners. Because of a recent Federal Court decision reaffirming the protections given to individual property owners, the price tag has gone up. In upholding the verdict of the district court, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals approved a jury award of almost $2 million to be paid to Harold Hart and Larry Ball, two Wythe County farmers whose land was being effected by the pipeline project.
East Tennessee Natural Gas, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, originally offered to pay the farmers $87,000 for the damages they were going to cause to the land. However Duke Energy failed to consider the owners' plans to turn the property into a commercial or industrial center, as it is ideally situated at the intersection of Interstate Highways 77 and 81. The landowners had marketed their property to commercial purchasers in the past and were continuing their efforts to promote the redevelopment with the aide and support of local authorities. The easement, which laid large pipes just feet below the surface, made the land completely unsuitable for any future purposes other than residential or agricultural.
Arguing successfully for the landowners, Waldo & Lyle, P.C. proved the property's highest and best use was commercial development. The property's potential development, which was permanently lost to the farmers, was found to be worth much more than the $87,000 that Duke Energy had offered them for the land. At trial, the owner's assessors testified that prior to the presence of the pipeline the land would sell for approximately $10,000 per acre. The assessors testified that because it can no longer be put to commercial or industrial uses, due to the construction of the pipeline, the property was worth a mere $1,800 per acre after the take. This disparity in value was enough to convince the jury to return an award more than 20 times larger than Duke Energy's initial offer.
However, the did not have the final say. Despite Duke Energy's post-trial statement that "the jury system is working as it should," they showed they had no intention to pay Hart and Ball the money they were owed. Duke quickly filed motions asking for a new trial or a decrease in the award. After their motion was denied, Duke Energy was still unsatisfied and filed an appeal with the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Reviewing the case, Judge Gregory of the Fourth Circuit found no reason or basis for holding the jury's award as unfair or excessive and affirmed the trial court's ruling that Hart and Ball should receive the full $1.825 million. The Court found the testimony of the farmers' appraisers was properly admitted and the evidence supported the jury's verdict. As a result, and despite Duke Energy's best efforts, justice prevailed, property rights were protected and the jury system was indeed worked as it should.