Leasing "ROW"

About seventy years ago or maybe a little more when the electric lines were put in and my Grandparents home was wired up for lights A conversation took place. I was too small to remember what was actually said. But years later the topic of that subject came up once again.

A statement was put forth by someone. They said, "Promise the landowners ANYTHING, BUT GET THAT LEASE!"

They were talking about setting the poles for the electric line that was about to be brought into the area.

These folks had heard rumors both pro and con about the labor saving that electricity would save them. In fact I recall vividly my father driving the 100 miles from Geneva, New York, where he worked for the telephone company, each weekend. I often came with him. He came to install the wiring in two houses, one house was my Grandfather's and the other house was the house I am sitting in right now.

I also recall vividly wondering why my Grandfather and my Aunt Allie did not turn on the lights......Our Geneva home had electric lights, an electric cook stove and other electrical appliances.  My Aunt Allie would say, "Tuttle, Are the oil lamps filled for the evening?" And he would fill them and light them.

But we are talking about "ROW's" for gas and oil wells and pipelines. Electric poles take very little room. And unless they have to be routed thru a very valuable stand of timber there is little to be concerned about. The landowner was not restricted in working his land between the poles.

Gas and oil wells and pipelines are a different story.  A much bigger area is required. Often several acres in fact. Weeks and months of heavy trucks and work crews and other assorted machinery are dragged onto your property. Your land will never be the same again! 

These gas and oil well and pipeline people are blind to anything except to fatten their bank accounts. They cannot see the blood, sweat, tears and sacrifices made by these long time landowners. And they care even less about the damages they often cause.

To add insult to injury, the land owner still has to pay the taxes on the land he is no longer allowed to use anymore as he wishes, plus any taxes levied on payments made for leasing and royalty.

Comments please.

Bill L.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Michael Allen on November 4, 2015 at 3:52am

Many landowners are more concerned with the "money" than what the clauses of the document says. This is a big mistake. The money is a one time thing, but the stipulations in the document go on forever, if you grant an easement. Some of you landowners are using the term "lease", which has a time limit attached and is usually for an oil/gas lease on an entire property. A pipeline agreement is usually an easement and is generally forever. I highly recommend you NOT sign a permanent easement unless the company has eminent domain. A gathering line system usually does not have eminent domain so they can not force you to sign an easement. In these cases, you should only agree to a "lease" or even better, a "licence agreement" for a period of time, say 20 years. In addition, if the company wants multiple line rights to add additional pipelines, the area disturbed will be the total of the all needed property ie 50' for the pipelines and 100' for the temporary work space(TWS). If the TWS is going to be disturbed every 2-3 years to construct another pipeline, then in essence you are giving up that property as well. 

Access roads, staging areas, turn-arounds, and so forth require special compensation and stipulations as to initial construction methods, maintenance, user authority, annual payments, etc. If you don't protect yourself with a good document, then after you spend the money, you will get depressed every time you look at the mess you have gotten yourself into.

Permalink Reply by Jason on November 4, 2015 at 9:14am

. If you don't protect yourself with a good document, then after you spend the money, you will get depressed every time you look at the mess you have gotten yourself into.

You are so right with this statement!!!

Permalink Reply by william Allen. Ladd on November 4, 2015 at 2:20pm

If I am in a mess as you might suggest, it was brought on by the pipeline company wanting to cross my property.

I have not signed anything as yet. And I understand very well the pressures being applied to have me sign.  TRUTHFUL INFORMATION by gas drilling companies or pipeline people is hard to come by. Land owners are at a very distinct disadvantage in dealing with them.

My property is directly between two drilling sites by Travis Peake. As I understand it, they want to put a pipeline between theses two wells and then connect to Dominion at Sabinsville. The money offered is not great but a couple of conditions were met very quickly by the pipeline people.

I agree that dollar bills are not the most important consideration. Far too many people can see no other scene except dollar bills!

Right now my concern is that no information is coming to me from my lawyer.

A couple of other landowners have contacted me about this pipeline and the Travis Peake wells. I understand that there is a third well  that will make a sort of triangle shape configuration  when they are completed.

 Maybe right now it is a matter of "WHO BLINKS FIRST!"

By the way, The Travis Peake drillers or their access road builders,  are rapidly building an access road to their well this last week. Tri axle dump trucks filled with gravel have been running up and down the road for several days now. I can hear their dozers and sheep footed compacters working the grading to the well sites.

I thank you all for your opinions and hope to read more of them as days go by.

Bill L.

Permalink Reply by Michael Allen on November 4, 2015 at 2:28pm

If your attorney doesn't respond, then get another one. If I was in your shoes, I would get a group together and hire one attorney to represent your group. On the other hand, a bad attorney representative with not much experience, will not do you or your group a good job. A "O&G" lease attorney is not necessarily a good pipeline easement attorney. So how do you get an attorney that will give you the best service? Good question and I'm not here to tell you who is good or bad. I will tell you that I will look at your documents and give you an opinion, at least a basic one. Having been on the company side for 30 years, I do have that expertise to know what you really need in a document and what you don't.

Permalink Reply by Thomas Lilli on November 4, 2015 at 3:40pm
There is an attorney who put on a seminar in Wellsboro a couple weeks ago. Try him. He deals with ROW's constantly.

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