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| Could This Hideous Site Be Your Once Beautiful Land? |
You own a beautiful organic farm of say 50 acres, or perhaps you have a second home situated on 15-20 acres with a beautiful pond on it. The organic farm has been in your family for decades, your beautiful home with a pond is the spot of many wonderful shared memories, grandparents, parents and children spending weekends and summers there for multiple generations.
One day, a landman knocks on your door, wants to lease your land for natural gas exploration and drilling. You politely listen, and then say, "Thanks but no thanks, we really are not interested in having you despoil our land." It would be nice if this were the end of the tale, would be nice if your wishes were adhered too. Sadly, you may not have any choice, more than likely could be FORCED into accepting something occurring under your land that you do not want.
If you live in an area where Fracking is an issue, a possibility, would strongly advise you to look at the NY DEP's COMPULSORY INTEGRATION PROCESS, and then get involved in the crusade to prohibit nature gas drilling activities that include hydrofracking methods.
The basic run down is simple...a company wants to drill, they suspect there is a major cache of this precious commodity under X area of ground. There is a lot of opposition to the project, but 60 percent (based on acreage, not owners) of the landowners sign agreements, lease their land to the project in the hopes of future gains...at that point, you are in trouble, and your land is in trouble. The NY DEP is going to force you to attend a hearing, and then they are going to force you to become an unwilling participant in the raping of your own land, force you to become a partner in the project UNDER DURESS.
The Compulsory Integration Process
The Oil, Gas and Solution Mining Law provides a process to address land that is associated with a well but is not controlled by the well operator through a lease or other type of voluntary agreement. This process begins when a well permit is issued, and provides the mineral rights owner with three choices - at three different risk levels - for potential compensation for oil or gas production if the well is successful. Read the Guide to Compulsory Integration Options for more information. Again, this guide is provided for informational purposes and does not substitute for legal advice.
