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Natural gas company sues Iowa farmer over alleged easement violations • Iowa Capital Dispatch [1]

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Date: 2024-12

A company that operates a natural gas pipeline in Howard County is suing an Iowa farmer for allegedly intruding on the company’s easement across his land.

The Northern Natural Gas Company is suing Kenneth and Debra Moellers and the couple’s KDS Family Farms in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa. The company, which has owned and operated an active underground natural gas pipeline in Howard County since the 1960s, alleges it obtained an easement on Kenneth Moellers’ property near Cresco in 1960 when the land was owned by Mathias and Mary Riha.

In 1992, Kenneth Moellers acquired the property and, according to the lawsuit, he has repeatedly attempted “multiple unlawful encroachments on the easement” since that time. Most recently, Moellers allegedly constructed a concrete manure run from an animal confinement. The manure run allegedly sits directly on top of Northern Natural Gas’ pipeline.

The company alleges the manure run violates its easement rights and also “endangers safe and uninterrupted natural gas service” to Moellers and other customers.

According to the company, Northern Natural Gas officials first met with Moellers on his farm in June 2023 to discuss the encroachment issue and Moellers asserted he intended to build a large manure pit on the southeast edge of their property within the company’s easement. The company claims it warned Moellers about the easement, but that he proceeded with construction in late 2023, resulting in a cease-and-desist letter from the company.

Then, in October 2024, the company used aerial surveillance and allegedly confirmed the construction of a second, larger concrete structure, believed to be another manure run, in the easement area.

The lawsuit alleges that although Moellers provided the Iowa Department of Natural Resources with copies of the manure run’s overall design, those designs are substantially different than what was actually built on the site. The company claims it has reported the matter to the Iowa Attorney General’s Office and that the Iowa Utilities Commission has opened an investigation.

The lawsuit seeks an injunction that would require Moellers to remove, at his expense, the concrete structures that now intrude on the easement and would prohibit any further attempts to build in that area.

Moellers has yet to file a response to the lawsuit. The Iowa Capital Dispatch was unable to reach him for comment.

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[1] Url: https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/briefs/natural-gas-company-sues-iowa-farmer-over-alleged-easement-violations/

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