Gas Well Companies Seeking ability to condemn land

[JPZenger]

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported yesterday (at the very end of the article) that the gas well drilling industry is seeking a change in state law to allow them to force private landowners to allow gas wells on their land. The article also said the industry is hiring Tom Ridge as their top lobbyist.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/20100725_Natural-gas_companies_turn_to_Ridge_to_fuel_drilling_efforts.html

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http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/natural-gas-companies-seek-utlitiy-status-to-lay-gas-pipelines-1.771143

Once natural gas wells increase, the next step is to seek pipelines to connect the wells. In PA. currently the power of condemnation can only be used for pipelines that extend between two or more states. A natural gas company is now seeking to be called a "public utility" so they can condemn private property for miles and miles of local pipelines.

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Gas well companies already have the right under Federal law to condemn the mineral rights of private property for "gas storage". This can involve tens of thousands of acres of land at a time.

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A natural gas well company also successfully went to court to limit the ability of the PA. Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources to control gas well drilling WITHIN A STATE PARK. The State wasn't even trying to stop the drilling --they were just make sure the impacts were limited. The illustrious State Supreme Court said that all the drillers needed to do was show a plan to the state on where they were going to drill n the state park.

To deal with deficits, the state has approved hundreds of gas wells on state forest land. (The state claims they mainly directed wells in state forests to areas that were already forested or otherwise disturbed).
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The US Forest Service is trying in court to limit gas well drilling inside Allegheny National Forest in north-central PA.

[Altoid_Cyclist]

1. This is becoming unbearable.

Between the existing gas fields and now the Marcellus Marauders plundering this state, PA is going to become one giant Superfund Site.

Accident after accident and violation after violation and far too many people still haven't educated themselves about the risk to their health and the enviroment.

This sums up the attitude and utter contempt that these bandits have for rules and regulations.

"These actions by the Forest Service seem to be an attempt to take more control over our activities on the land," said Steve Rhodes, president of the Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Association, the oil and gas trade association in the state. "But we don't apply for permission to drill; we notify them of our plans. They cannot dictate whether we use the surface."

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09040/947859-454.stm#ixzz0urNdq9Yf


This is an excellent site for all kinds of information relating to the rights and legalities of land, minerals and gas.

http://www.earthworksaction.org/SplitEstate.cfm

[JPZenger]

2. More on this story

http://citizensvoice.com/news/companies-seek-eminent-domain-status-to-lay-gas-pipelines-1.770888

[Altoid_Cyclist]

3. This is beyond anger inducing.

I still remember being told by a person on this site that the oil and gas companies aren't to blame. All of the BS going on in relation to the Marcellus Pillaging is the fault of greedy landowners and nothing else.
They insisted that no drilling can take place without the landowners permission.

This just shows that even once you remove landowners trying to make a quick buck, these bottom feeders are going to drill anywhere they damn well please. From what I've seen, the state agencies that are charged with protecting the environment are either complicit, incompetent, disengaged or powerless to stop this destruction.

No wonder this state imports more garbage than any other state. We have a Governor who keeps losing aides to the oil and gas companies and we're not supposed to be the least bit suspicious about the cozy relationship.

I wish that more people would educate themselves about what is really going on and that the promises of hundreds of thousands of jobs in the drilling industry is just a lot of hot air not unlike the picture in my signature line.

It seems as though every day I see more and more oil and gas company vehicles from Texas around here. All that we ever hear is the same old promises that we'll be careful and we really do care about the environment. We take every precaution so that no accidents will ever happen in PA. I could buy that line except that I'm saving up to buy the Brooklyn Bridge when they say that they can arrange that also.

PA doesn't need any more of this BS:
Marcellus spills may not be as uncommon as you think. In a June 21st Scranton Times Tribune newspaper article, reporter Laura Legere writes, “After a Marcellus Shale hearing last week, DEP produced a list for state legislators of 421 violations found by inspectors at Marcellus Shale wells this year through June 4. At least 50 of the violations - recorded by 15 different Marcellus operators - involved a spill to soil or water.”
You can read more in that newspaper’s DEEP IMPACT series at:
http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/gas-drilling