Ye Olden Gasline ROW Agreements

When I purchased some acreage across the road from my house several years ago , I inherited a Tennessee Gas pipeline row that cuts through perhaps 900 or so feet of it. With all the comotion lately about the need for more pipelines to service a growing number of gas wells , I figured I better find out some details of the agreement signed back in the day by the now long deceased landowners.Who knows , maybe there is potential to cash in if they ever want to add some more lines.

Well , after a couple wild goose chases dealing with Kinder Morgan trying to track down a copy , I finally hooked up with the right connection and today my copy arrived in the mail! On October 28,1949 the landowners signed for a whopping $10.00 + $1.00 per Rod. That's right ONE DOLLAR PER 16-1/2 FEET! Works out to about 6 CENTS PER FOOT per line. Don't guess I'll be getting rich any time soon off of this!

There's a moral to this story. Get the most you can for you now and the future landowners someday down the road. I can't believe this was a good deal even in 1949. These landowners were immigrants and simple farmers and my guess is they were taken full advantage of by a slick land man. Or was it the norm for 1949....?

Anyone else had the pleasure of looking up old row agreements with crappy terms like this?

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Permalink Reply by Trapper on November 26, 2013 at 10:48am

I wonder if this amount would be adjusted for inflation if they were to add any more lines today? Wow that would kick it up to 57 cents a foot! lol

Has anyone been in this situation that can share their story?

Permalink Reply by FairMktValue on November 26, 2013 at 10:56am

Trapper,

Supposedly that 9.53 number is adjusted - that would make it about .60 cents a foot!

They wanna put another line in - you need a really good lawyer.

Thats one of the problems with ROW"s - they are to eternity and beyond !

Permalink Reply by Trapper on November 26, 2013 at 11:51am
Just looking ahead and trying to be somewhat prepared for the situation should it arise. Thanks for the advice.
Permalink Reply by Bill Simpson on November 26, 2013 at 5:00am

Question for anyone out there knowledgeable about old gas lines.

This has to do with property in Ashtabula Cnty, Ohio.

When I purchased an adjoining parcel a few years back I was sent  a fax/package of the history that the Title company did for the purchase. Most of the copies were copies of microfiche that was mostly blackened out and hard to read. I did notice a line or two regarding a pipeline running thru it maybe back in the 70s by East Ohio Gas.

There is some type of old vent pipe at the street but no info on it. How can I find out any info about this pipeline. Can I call someone, send a request to someone, pull files somewhere? How about the old lease info. Also, is there any reference material that says what I can or cannot do if a company comes in to reuse it in the future.

Any valid or positive info would be greatly appreciated. Also, I did call the State of Ohio and ended up coming full circle with a bunch of dummies.

I would like a starting point or good source of file information about it.

Permalink Reply by FairMktValue on November 26, 2013 at 9:14am

I would try calling East Ohio Gas.  I t appears they are or were a local gas utility, may be part of Dominion now.  Line could be abandonded - no longer in use. Either way they should have a record of it.

Permalink Reply by Tony Yurina on November 26, 2013 at 2:10pm

You might try calling in an OUPS locate next time you excavate to plant flowers or put in a new mail box post.  The operator is required to come out and mark the utility, be it wire or pipeline, fiber optic, etc. within 48 hours. 

Permalink Reply by John on December 3, 2013 at 2:57am

Calling in an OUPS only gets utility lines located.  If the line being marked by that what sounds like a road bore marker is marking a line put in by a production company then OUPS wont get you any information.  And utility lines usually aren't marked with vent pipes.  My guess would be that the pipe is marking where a line crossed the road and is associated with the drilling frenzy that went on in the '80s in Ashtabula County.  Would probably be associated with a lease or ROW agreement, either current or expired, though.  Some of that hard to read microfishe may hold the answer.  And, yes, East Ohio Gas is now Dominion.

 

Permalink Reply by Bill Simpson on December 3, 2013 at 5:01am

I called Dominon...went thru a few folks and was told that they do keep records somewhere but since the 911 bombings they do not divulge any information.

As I said before there is a vent pipe (looks like a candy cane) in the street and then another one directly across the street. They tops were bright orange at one time but are now faded out.

Also. is it true that pipeline agreements (in Ohio) are forever? Can another party come in and start digging and laying new pipe based on a lease many years ago. Any thoughts or suggestions.

My guess and from what I and many others were told in my part of Ashtabula is that we would probably have pipeline agreements before a major comes in.

I would like to be ready and knowledgable when that happens.

Permalink Reply by John on December 4, 2013 at 1:19am

It does sound like a production line, but unfortunately I don't have an answer to your duration question.  An oil and gas lawyer could shed some light on that though.  Jerry Lemire comes to mind for Ashtabula County.

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