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(erielack) Abandoned EL ROW still worth $$$$

Hmmmm If call call Long Distance am I using former EL Track 1 in Hammond
Indiana????

> LANDOWNERS WIN AWARD - [Indianapolis Star, C1, 5/13.]  Indiana property
> owners who dispute AT&T's right to install fiber-optic cable along
> abandoned railroad property lines will receive an average of $45,000 per
> mile under a class-action settlement announced Wednesday in U.S. District
> Court.  The settlement in Indiana is significant because it's the first
> reached nationally in landowners' ongoing battles with telephone and
> railroad companies over the rights to use their property, said Henry
> Price, an Indianapolis attorney for the landowners.  Landowners nationwide
> have pending suits against telecommunications companies MCI WorldCom,
> Sprint and Qwest.  Companies in the telecommunications business received
> permission to install the lines on the abandoned railroad property from
> the railroad companies.  Landowners say railroad companies had no legal
> right to give such permission and that they're the ones who control use of
> their property.  Wednesday's settlement is worth an estimated $3.6 million
> to property owners because it affects 80 miles of fiber-optic line AT&T
> installed on property formerly used by railroads in Indiana.  The
> settlement allows AT&T to continue operating, repairing and maintaining
> the cable and allows property owners to use their land, as long as they
> don't disturb the cable.  AT&T does not admit any liability in the
> agreement announced Wednesday.  "AT&T believes it is innocent of any
> wrongdoing," said Mike Pruyn, a spokesman for AT&T.  "We instead agreed to
> the settlement not only because of the risk of litigation but because of
> the substantial time, expense and other burdens involved in defending
> against these claims."  
> 
> 

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