This past week, the Iowa Supreme Court upheld a $4.75 million verdict awarded to West Union dairy farmers Mark, Joan, and Andrews Vagts for damages to their herd caused by stray voltage from a natural gas line. The Vagts no doubt celebrated this significant victory by getting up at 5 a.m. the next day to milk their cows and feed the calves.
They had filed a lawsuit in district court in 2021. In 2023, a jury found in their favor. But the verdict was appealed to the Iowa Supreme Court. The company unsuccessfully argued that the Vagts had not proved negligence, and that any liability for creating the nuisance hinged upon this finding.
I don't know the Vagts personally. But their ordeal triggered a memory from 2001 of Michigan dairy farmers Rose and Vic Mier. The origin of their herd's health problems, also an underground pipeline, led me to reflect on power. Power grabs, power plays, power imbalances, and how so many of Iowa's recent political power struggles revolve around the use of energy, and the pipeline infrastructure to transport it, including the recent Iowa Utility Board (IUB) decision to allow Summit Carbon Solutions use of the state of Iowa's power of eminent domain to force its way onto the private property of farm and rural Iowans.
Shocking Outcome
The Northern Natural Gas Co. pipeline named in the Vagts' lawsuit runs from Texas through Iowa and ends in Michigan. When it was laid beneath their farmland 60 years ago, it didn't spark any political controversy. After all, it was a natural gas pipeline serving Iowans, and it met the tests of "public convenience and necessity". It didn't impact dairy herd health or the Vagts' livelihood.
However, in 2013, Northern Natural Gas replaced portions of the cathodic protection system that transmits a low electrical current to reduce pipeline corrosion. That's when the Vagts' dairy herd began exhibiting agitated behavior, producing less milk, and raising fewer calves. In 2017 the Vagts expanded their herd, and sited their new building closer to this invisible hazard. The metal reinforcement in its new concrete flooring amplified this electrical charge. More than 17% of the Vagts' herd died in 2022.
In 2023, Mark Vagts testified during the trial, "Sometimes you don't even want to get up in the morning because you don't know what you're going to find out there."
Power Imbalance
Today we know that dairy cattle are more sensitive to electric ground current than any other livestock. Legal cases date back to the 1980s, but most were unsuccessful. Very little research had been done to lend support to this litigation.
The Miers had been dairy farmers near Prescott, Michigan, for 36 years when I interviewed them for my story in Successful Farming. Their problems originated when they built a new facility. Soon afterwards, the herd went off their feed and water, and their split hooves required bandaging and trimming. Milk production took a nosedive. The Miers consulted with their veterinarian and desperately tried to reverse this deteriorating situation.
Neighbors Nancy and Brian Bellville, who lived near the same substation, were experiencing the same issues with their dairy herd. Vic began to suspect the problem was caused by the effects of electric ground current.
The source was a public utility providing natural gas and electricity. The cement floors of the Miers' new facility, including rebar and wire mesh, served as a strong conductor for this ground current. But the utility denied that it was to blame.
Vic told me that he had been called "stupid, lazy, and inefficient". Even other farmers doubted the source of his problems. However, since 1990, 1,750 complaints had been filed against this company, and it had paid millions of dollars in court costs, settlements, and attorney fees. Michigan Attorney General Jennifer Graham filed a complaint to the Michigan Public Service Commission in 2001.
Too late. The Miers sold their herd in March 2001. The Bellevilles had sold out in 2000. My story featuring the Miers included a Wisconsin ag engineer who vehemently argued that stray voltage was not a significant issue for dairy herds. However, despite presenting this side of the story, the Michigan utility came after me, contacting my editors. It made me question if I had been foolish to tackle such a controversial issue.
I haven't followed stray voltage case law closely during recent years. However, according to the Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation at Iowa State University, the tide has begun to turn. By 2017, dairy farmers in Wisconsin, Iowa, and several other states were winning significant awards. I'm glad this power imbalance is being addressed in the courts, although my heart goes out to dairy farmers who filed for bankruptcy because they lacked the power to fight a David-and-Goliath battle.
Power Grab
I feel the same way regarding the failure of eminent domain law to protect Iowa property owners. In 2015, we witnessed a high-stakes battle pitting private property rights against domestic energy infrastructure. I wrote extensively about the proposed Dakota Access LLC pipeline running 1,134 miles across four states, including Iowa. Farmland immediately north and east of our farm was in Its path.
More than 3,700 written comments were submitted by Iowans in opposition to this pipeline owned by Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners. What set this power grab apart was IUB's unprecedented decision that this private company's pipeline, sending its dirty Bakken shale oil coursing beneath Iowa's fertile soil, met the test of "public convenience and necessity". Not one drop of fracked North Dakota oil was used to benefit Iowans; its ultimate destination was the Gulf Coast for redistribution. The IUB steamrolled its approval, facilitated by our governor. The outcome sowed undercurrents of intimidation, anger, fear, and political mistrust throughout Iowa.
Our friend and neighbor, LaVerne Johnson, along with eight other landowners, appealed the decision to the Iowa Supreme Court. Johnson died suddenly in 2019, six weeks prior to the state's ruling upholding IUB's decision.
Government Bows to Private Power
So here we are again, less than a decade later. After following the Dakota Access LLC pipeline so closely, I wasn't surprised by this week's IUB decision to approve the Summit Carbon LLC pipeline across Iowa. Another power grab, this time by a private "clean energy" company with deep ties to the ethanol industry. The end result is the same: taking property rights from landowners. Once again, the decision was made by a handful of unelected individuals appointed by the Governor, who applied her thumb to the scales of power. Former Governor Branstad, a senior policy advisor to Summit, added another level of government pressure.
Perhaps you read the hollow comments issued by House Speaker Pat Grassley regarding the need to "comprehensively review and update the state's eminent domain laws". As Iowans, we all know the time to close the barn door is before the cows get out. The Iowa legislature could have played a role in preventing this shocking assault on property rights; the House passed legislation, but the Senate refused to take it up. Eminent domain reforms also stalled in 2015.
During next year's legislative session, look for calls to tighten eminent domain laws and to return the power to property owners that was so fundamental to our Founding Fathers. However, what we've seen in Iowa is many government officials working hand-in-glove to elevate the power of businesses (private sector) over people. The powers of local, state, and federal governments must be used to balance the excesses of the private sector.
Power Vacuum
Iowa already has about 41,410 miles of hazardous liquid and natural gas pipelines. A Northern Natural Gas pipeline was laid beneath our land back in the 1930s, long before my husband's family owned it. It was abandoned within the last decade, and most farmers and landowners in its path assumed the pipeline would remain beneath their fields in perpetuity.
However, the pipeline and the easements to this land were sold to another company that contacted us recently. This company is working its way the length of the pipeline from Texas to Minnesota to dig up the steel pipe, and eventually re-purpose it for its residual value.
It just goes to show you that once a company acquires the right to lay a pipeline and gains a permanent easement, landowners have no control over what happens in the future. Yes, there's some initial compensation for digging beneath the soil, and destroying the growing crop above ground. During this process, the field's pattern tiling can easily be cut, disrupting the entire drainage system. Soils don't recover overnight, and the scars will linger for some time in the future.
The powers of eminent domain are not an abstract concept. They're a gut-wrenching reality for property owners who clearly are on the losing end of Iowa's political power struggle over energy infrastructure
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I was disappointed when I heard about the change in South Dakota's standing. I also felt like that decision affected Iowa's decision. I look forward to more of your articles about this.
Thank you, Cheryl. This is an issue that I know too little about and most of what I know is from the headlines. Thank you for putting this on our radar screen.