Business
Texas landowners take a rare stand against Big Oil
Posted: Oct 17, 2012 1:19 AM
Updated: Oct 17, 2012 1:22 AM
SUMNER, Texas (AP) Oil has long lived in harmony with farmland and cattle across Texas, a symbiosis built on an unspoken honor code that allowed agriculture to thrive while oil was extracted.
Enter TransCanada.
As the company pursues construction of a controversial 1,179-mile-long cross-country pipeline meant to bring Canadian tar sands oil to South Texas refineries, it's finding opposition in the unlikeliest of places: oil-friendly Texas.
In the minds of some landowners approached by TransCanada for land, the company has behaved like arrogant foreigners, unworthy of operating in Texas.
To fight back, insulted Texas landowners are filing dozens of lawsuits, threatening to further delay a project that has already encountered many obstacles. Others are allowing activists to go on their land to stage protests. Several have been arrested.
