Pipeline Right Of Way Agreements Are The Closest Thing To Eternal Life You May Ever Know

Over and over on this site I read posts asking how much the per foot price should be for a pipeline right of way (ROW). This is the last question you should ask.

There are at least 30 other questions/issues (if not more) you need to deal with first. You can find lists of issues by searching this site.

Consider the plight of the families in Boardman, OH who have been told by Sunoco that the company will be tearing up their backyards to install a new pipeline. I mean their back yards, these people live in a development with lots about 150' deep. When you consider the area required to install a pipeline, this pipeline construction will literally tear up most of their backyard.

Is Sunoco wrong ? Is it the bad guy ? No. The company is exercising it's rights based on a ROW agreement signed sometime in the 1930's.

I can hear it now; but Mark if I don't agree to the company terms it will go around us. My response is - So What! Yes you should turn down the money, it can't always be about the money. The only thing we are runing out of and can't be replaced is land. You must use it wisely, a pipeline ROW may not be the best use of your property. Unless of course you enter into a favorable agreement. Which for me would be a lease not an open ended agreement.

So when you are considering a pipeline ROW agreement there are issues far more important than the per foot price. Just remember you are also binding your heirs to this agreement. Do you want to leave them with a legal mess to deal with like the folks in Boardman ?

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Permalink Reply by Barbara on February 8, 2014 at 7:47am

yes.

and yes, i have contacted the company with no reply.  unfortunately i was not here when they 'finished' it as i was for the digging....so didn't know how they had 'finished' it until months later.

i was told by the ...not sure what to call him, but he was the expert on habitat and vegetation, etc....who was brought here by the pipeline land man of the seed mixture routinely used, which was NOT said to be queen anne's lace, and that i could make individual changes to that to more closely approximate what what was already there.

this was two years ago, fall of 2011.  

my lease also states 'to original' condition.

Permalink Reply by Frank Walker on February 10, 2014 at 1:34pm

Barb

Lawsuit is your principal recourse.  But mere threat thereof might do the trick!

Cheaper for them to put your land right than to defend a suit in court and, in addition, risk negative publicity.  But do not expect them to do what's right merely because it is right.  That's not likely to happen.

Permalink Reply by Kathi Albertson on February 8, 2014 at 5:37am

Mark, you bring in an important point.  The original plan for the pipeline replacement on my land was to widen my driveway which was indeed an old road many many years ago. They wanted it to be about 15 feet wider which would have involved removing all of the trees on one side. I visited the county map office and found that the road was never on any map.  I then gave the pipeline people a copy of the deed for that parcel and squelched that idea.   

Permalink Reply by Kathi Albertson on February 8, 2014 at 6:46am

Mark, your mention of Ginseng could be extremely interesting. (Someone else also mentioned on another thread that their Ginseng patch was being taken by pipeline work but I can't find it now.)

First I need to say that although I am a bit of a tree hugger, as many of us who own a forest are, I am not advocating that we stop the gas and oil industry in their tracks due to a few birds or a few plants in the woods.  But the fact is, that in the state of Ohio, the law limits the digging of Ginseng to the period between September 1 and December 31 and only with the permission of the owner of the land where the plant is found.

So the question is, if Ginseng is growing in the proposed path of a pipeline project, will the state require the work to stop until Sept. 1? If I can prove that I planted Ginseng in an area where they want to dig in the winter, even though the plants are not growing now,  will the work have to wait until September 1?

Perhaps I am suffering from cabin fever and have too much time on my hands right now, but I think that this a point to consider.

Permalink Reply by Kathi Albertson on February 8, 2014 at 7:42am

Ok, so I looked up the code (1533.882), and ginseng can be dug out of season with written permission from the chief of the division of wildlife, but not without first obtaining written permission from the person entitled to the ginseng. So it is still an interesting issue.

Permalink Reply by Mark McGrail on February 8, 2014 at 6:01am

Kathi,

Your point is great, people should be proactive when presented with the issue of a pipeline ROW. They should not just accept what the company representative says. They need to do research themselves.

Permalink Reply by Mark McGrail on February 8, 2014 at 5:59am

mark,

That's very interesting, I hadn't thought of these. People should research them.

Permalink Reply by JL on February 8, 2014 at 5:44am

I posted this in the Noble County section, and added info here:

I signed pipeline ROW agreements for specific routes. The 100' ROW has been cut as agreed to, and one pipe has been buried. They decided to reroute the  other pipelines in a different location. They cut a second 100' ROW and are proceeding to lay pipe without an agreement or payment. The total distance for the unauthorized ROW is about 600-800'.  I have notified the company numerous times and nothing has been done to resolve this. What should I do?  I was notified that I can have these people arrested for trespassing.

Permalink Reply by Mark McGrail on February 8, 2014 at 6:02am

JL,

It's time for an attorney.

Permalink Reply by Gary L on February 8, 2014 at 7:49am

Mark, you are spot on with this thread. We need to be careful and good stewards of our land also looking out for our future heirs. We need infrastructures to move the commodities and the most important information is to attain a good ROW attorney.

These big industries have been doing this for years and known how to write up contracts that benefit them only. You must put a good list together such as addendum (exhibit B),

Where as any conflicts with ROW Agreement (Exhibit A), your addendum prevails.

Example: You have an access road that enables you to travel to other parts of your land with good timber to harvest in the future. Pipeline is in and a few years later its time to bring in the logging process. Pipeline says NO, you can't cross our ROW with heavy equipment. Don't get yourself in a land lock situation. A good attorney can be

a tremendous blessing for you. Just my opinion. 

Permalink Reply by Frank Walker on February 10, 2014 at 1:41pm

Gary

Unless the heavy equipment prohibition is in the original pipeline agreement, spelled out in specific terms, I don't see how they can enforce such a thing.  I'd just tell 'em to pound sand.

Permalink Reply by dennis elias on February 14, 2014 at 4:03am

Don't know who( Land man) is telling landowners that they have the right of eminent domain over your property ... But in any case that is not so .These land man , not all, will use scare tactics on you . But they do have the right to survey your land in the state of Ohio.. but you can make them get that paper of proof before crossing your land . Correct me if I'm wrong , I Believe they ( Sunoco ) need 80 per cents of land owners in agreement to cross your land on eminent domain ? If you are against them and holding out than they would go to the state and a arbitrator would make the final call . Don't believe everything you hear . I known several landowners has already chase them off of there property .      

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