United States v. Easement & Right-of-way Over Two Tracts of Land

246 F. Supp. 263, 1965 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7690
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Kentucky
DecidedSeptember 13, 1965
DocketNo. 809
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 246 F. Supp. 263 (United States v. Easement & Right-of-way Over Two Tracts of Land) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Easement & Right-of-way Over Two Tracts of Land, 246 F. Supp. 263, 1965 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7690 (W.D. Ky. 1965).

Opinion

SWINFORD, District Judge.

The plaintiff filed this action on August 31, 1961 and it was, by order of the court, put in possession of the property condemned. Commissioners were appointed to assess adequate compensation to the landowners. Before the report of the commissioners, the landowners filed a motion to vacate the order of taking and to dismiss the complaint. This motion raised the question of the sufficiency of the allegations of the complaint and the legality of the declaration of taking. It was contended that the complaint showed on its face that the plaintiff was without authority to condemn and the court without authority to order a taking by reason of the provisions of the Tennessee Valley Authority Act of 1933, 48 Stat. 58, as amended, 16 U.S.C. §§ 831-831dd (1958; Supp. I, 1959). The court heard arguments in support of the motion to dismiss and denied the landowners’ motion, thereby, as the trial court then believed, finally adjudicating the authority for the plaintiff to acquire the property under a constitutional act of Congress.

Commissioners appointed by the court held hearings and made a finding as- to the value of the property, which was, on appeal to the district court, reviewed by a three-judge court as required by the Act. The court modified the award and a final judgment was entered.

On appeal to the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit from the judgment of the district court, the amount of the award was affirmed, 336 F.2d 76, but the case was remanded for further consideration on the question as to whether the electrical generating plant known as the Paradise plant from which the transmission line passes over the acquired property “is connected with, auxiliary to, or aids the distribution of electricity generated at any TVA hydro-electric plant.”

[265]*265In overruling the landowners’ motion to dismiss the complaint, this court held that 16 U.S.C. § 831c(i) authorized the taking of the property along the Tennessee River and its tributaries and that 16 U.S.C. § 831k authorized construction of power lines within transmission distances of TVA operated plants. The court relied upon its former decision in United States ex rel. Tennessee Valley Authority v. Puryear, W.D.Ky., 105 F.Supp. 534 (1952), which authorized TVA to construct facilities outside the Tennessee River and its tributaries.

In remanding this case for further consideration and final judgment on the question of the “authority” for the taking, the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit said:

“We are not advised as to whether the Paradise plant is connected with, auxiliary to, or aids the distribution of electricity generated at any TVA hydro-electric plant. It is not clear to us whether TVA is here contending that it has authority to construct a steam plant at any place within 1,000 miles of one of its admittedly authorized hydro-electric plants, and therefrom distribute electricity.”

United States ex rel. Tennessee Valley Authority v. Easement in Logan County, Ky., 6 Cir., 336 F.2d 76 (1964).

This court directed the parties to offer evidence in support of their respective positions on this question. The plaintiff submitted the deposition of Mr. G. 0. Wessenauer. The landowners offered no proof. The deposition of the witness, Wessenauer, was filed with the record and the following facts are adduced from the deposition.

TVA owns and operates a number of steam plants, several of which were included in property transferred to TVA by local utilities owners. Other plants were built by TVA on authority to build such plants from the provisions of the original TVA Act wherein Congress understood that additional steam plants would be built. It was under this authority that the Paradise and Bull Run steam plants were built and financed by the Revenue Bond Amendment of 1959. The Paradise plant operates as a part of the entire power system as indicated by a map which was used by the House Committee on Public Works when considering the revenue bond amendment. The map, which is filed with the record as Exhibit 1 in the deposition of Mr. Wessenauer, illustrates the Tennessee River drainage area and the TVA service area. The dams and steam plants are operated as an integral part of the system and are inter-connected by a high voltage transmission network. The system is also connected to adjacent power facilities and this forms a network which feeds the power output of all the projects and makes up a pool of power upon which the municipalities, cooperatives, industries and various power users may draw for supply. Exhibit 2, filed with the deposition, gives a comprehensive picture of the entire power line network.

The best result in supplying power is the use of a combination of hydro-electric plants and steam plants, since they complement and supplement each other. The increasing power needs of the TVA region necessitated the construction of the Paradise steam plant which was placed at that location (Paradise, Kentucky) in order to supply current from the most economical source to a particular region. The decision was based on economic factors and engineering technical knowledge. Among the economic factors were the availability of coal, the cost of the connecting facilities, the adequacy of a cooling water supply, the availability of rail, water and road transportation, and, from the standpoint of the engineers, the suitability of foundation conditions. The placement at this location effected a two-thirds cost saving in coal in comparison with placement anywhere else in the TVA system. The TVA board of directors made the ultimate decision after taking the things to which I have referred and possibly other factors into consideration.

The Paradise plant transmission lines serve a number of purposes. They are [266]*266a part of the overall network of transmission lines. They carry power from the plant further into the network and serve as alternate or additional routes when power is needed from Kentucky plants to Tennessee. They also serve as routes for power to supply Paradise and its loads when needed and when the loads grow and develop in the Paradise area, they will be used to supply new sub-stations that will be needed.

It is the opinion of the court that the testimony of this witness supplies the necessary proof required by the Court of Appeals and that it shows conclusively that the condemnation of the Enlow Rogers property was authorized by the TVA legislation. It is convincing that the transmission lines over the Rogers property did aid, were auxiliary to or connected with the distribution of power from TVA plants.

If the landowners contend that the Paradise plant violates 16 U.S.C. § 831n-4(a), the result would be the same. This statute restricts TVA sale or delivery of power area to that area served on July 1, 1957. Exhibit 1, the map introduced by Mr. Wessenauer, shows that the Paradise plant is within the July 1, 1957 service area of TVA.

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246 F. Supp. 263, 1965 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7690, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-easement-right-of-way-over-two-tracts-of-land-kywd-1965.