Recently, a Third Circuit panel said a U.S. District Court
judge abused his discretion in admitting the testimony of the
landowners' expert, who significantly devalued property based
on the supposed "stigma" of the property being located
near a natural gas pipeline.1
There, UGI Sunbury, LLC (UGI), a company that builds natural gas
pipelines under the authorization of the Natural Gas Act, had
condemned easements for the construction of a natural gas pipeline.
The issue of damages accounting for the diminution in value to the
property due to the condemnation was before the District
Court.
In a bench trial before a Judge in the United States District
Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, the landowners
employed an expert who opined that the value of the property had
been severely decreased by the pipeline based on his "damaged
goods theory." The expert devised the theory based on his
experience working as a sales representative in his
grandfather's
