BLOOMINGTON - A proposal by a Canadian company to bring a crude-oil pipeline through Illinois, including Livingston, McLean and DeWitt counties, has raised concerns with some residents and officials. | Pipeline map

More than 300 landowners with property along the proposed Enbridge Energy Inc. pipeline path have sought the help of two attorneys to fight for their interests in a case before the Illinois Commerce Commission and at the circuit and federal court levels.

The McLean County Board first filed as an intervener in the ICC case only to keep abreast of developments in the case, but recently Chairman Matt Sorensen submitted testimony questioning the effect of the pipeline on a proposed east-side highway. Both the pipeline and the highway would run north to south on the Twin Cities' eastern edge.

Several local officials also are concerned about a letter Bloomington Mayor Steve Stockton wrote to the ICC seemingly in support of the project - especially when it could have a bearing on future infrastructure development.

Meanwhile, Unit 5 school Superintendent Gary Niehaus has had preliminary talks with the district's engineers regarding the pipeline's proximity to a planned new school in the Grove at Kickapoo Creek.

Neil Finlen, a partner in the Farnsworth Group engineering firm, said the east side of the property where the school would be built is about 1,600 feet - or five football fields - from the proposed pipeline route.

"The exact site of the school facility has not been determined yet," he said.

The same is true for the pipeline and the proposed east-side highway corridor; that's why Sorensen has concerns.

McLean County, Bloomington and Normal officials and a stakeholder group have four possible routes for the proposed east-side highway within a study area. The Enbridge pipeline "appears to be squarely within the well-defined boundaries" of that study area, Sorensen said in testimony filed with the ICC.

The pipeline's proposed location actually crosses some of the possible highway routes along County Road 2100 North.

Enbridge is asking the ICC to give it eminent domain authority. Eminent domain power would give Enbridge the authority to compel property owners along the route to sell an easement for the pipeline at a fair market value.

The ICC must find the project is a public good if it is to grant eminent domain.

Sorensen said he worries that if the ICC rules that way, county taxpayers would be responsible for the cost of having Enbridge adjust the pipeline for a road.

"It's too early to think about cost," Enbridge spokesman Joe Martucci said. "They could be worked out later on. It's years from now. It would depend on the circumstances."

Stockton also has some concerns about the pipeline and future road and bridge plans by Bloomington. The pipeline also likely will cut across Money Creek, which is a primary tributary to Lake Bloomington, one of two lakes the city uses as its water supply.

While the crossing is 10 miles away from the lake, Stockton said there is a lot to be discussed about how the company would control and clean up a spill.

"It's not likely a spill would make it to the lake, but Money Creek is still a main tributary to the lake, and what happens to it will have some effect on the lake," Stockton said.

That also captures the interest of environmentalist Angelo Capparella, a biology professor at Illinois State University, Normal.

Capparella said he is waiting to see what Enbridge considers "high consequence areas" in McLean County. Such areas are considered to be environmentally sensitive - Money Creek, for example - and therefore would require special protection measures and cleanup contingency plans.

Meanwhile, Stockton defended the letter he filed with the ICC, saying it only was meant to serve as a record of what Enbridge told the city it intended to do with the pipeline. Stockton said the letter was never meant to serve as an endorsement of the project. However, he acknowledges the last paragraph of the letter makes it sound like the city approves.

Besides the Enbridge case before the ICC, LeRoy attorney Thomas Pliura has filed a case in federal court in Springfield on behalf of DeWitt County residents Carlisle and DeAnna Kelly. The case is scheduled for a July 1 bench trial.

Pliura said he intends to file more lawsuits in state court on behalf of other clients, including a challenge to the ICC's ability to issue eminent domain status to the project.

Pliura argued Illinois residents will not benefit from the pipeline, which would carry petroleum through Illinois to Texas.

"Illinois is just a highway for it," Pliura said.

Phyllis Coulter, Mary Ann Ford, M.K. Guetersloh and Edith Brady-Lunny contributed to this story.

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By the numbers

- 403 Number of documents filed in the Enbridge Energy pipeline case before the Illinois Commerce Commission

- 297 Number of people or entities who have filed to be an "intervener" or "party of record" in the case

- 250 Number of landowners represented by LeRoy attorney Thomas Pliura

- 50 Number of family farm owners represented by Bloomington attorney Mercer Turner

- 7 Number of months the case has already been before the ICC