Location of and entry upon land; damages

1. If land is required for public use, the person, corporation or partnership or its agents in charge of the use may survey and locate it. The land must be located in the manner most compatible with the greatest public good and the least private injury, and subject to this chapter. The person, corporation or partnership or its agents may, with the consent of the owner or under a court order entered pursuant to subsection 2, enter upon the land and make examinations, surveys and maps thereof, including soil investigations, test borings and the appraisal and valuation of the land and any improvements thereon. 2. If the owner or occupant of the land fails or refuses to permit entry on the land for the purposes set forth in subsection 1, the person, corporation or partnership may petition the district court of the county in which the land is situated for an order permitting entry on the land for those purposes. If the court ascertains, by affidavit or otherwise, that the person, corporation or partnership in good faith desires to enter the land for those purposes, the court shall grant an order permitting that entry, conditioned upon the examination being made at reasonable times and in such a manner as to cause the least inconvenience to the owner or occupant of the land. 3. Entry upon land pursuant to this section does not give rise to any cause of action in favor of the owner or occupant of the land, except for actual damages sustained to the land or any improvements thereon and all injuries resulting from negligence, wantonness or malice.