A property owner in Oklahoma City told News 4 that a court case that is still going on has not stopped an oil company from planning to build a new pipeline through his backyard.
News 4 talked to farmer Don Eckroat in October. He said that he and other nearby property owners got a letter last year telling them that Phillips 66 was going to build a new pipeline. There will be new lines running from Ponca City to Oklahoma City for 37 miles, the company says.
Near Britton Road and Midwest Boulevard is the part of the pipeline that hits Eckroat. Even though Eckroat didn’t want them to, Phillips 66 has used Oklahoma’s eminent domain law to start work on the project because they say it is for the public good.
Eckroat’s farm mostly grows Bermuda grass, and he wants it to be able to support his family members who want to keep it going in the future.
That wasn’t the case when News 4 crews first went to Eckroat’s land in October; there were no signs that work would begin soon. But that has changed since then.
Eckroat showed off the big changes by saying, “They decided to cut almost an 80-foot wide path through our farm to put in a 10-inch pipeline.”
The land also got flooded a lot because of water drainage. Eckroat said that a tunnel system that was put in just outside of his property line isn’t good enough for the rain that has been falling in the metro area for the past few days. Work groups dug up some land, but it’s now partly muddy.
He says that the longer the water stays, the harder it will be to bring back the oxygen-rich nutrients that his land needs to make money.
Deckroat said, “The damage they did here is likely to cost us well over $50,000.” “This is David and Goliath, and this is a big company stepping on a small farmer.” A Phillips 66 representative told News 4 the following when asked about the company on Monday: