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 Gary L on February 7, 2014 at 2:59pm

Mark, you make a valid point and I appreciate what you are saying. The only problem is when FERC gives the authority for pipelines to implement eminent domain and condemn your land through the legal system, your only option is to make the best deal you can. It's sad,  I have friends that fought it and found out the Bill of Right or First Amendments didn't mean anything. Their legal counsels (pipeline) practice West Law and use old court cases from other states for the Judge to rule in their favor. I am only speaking of interstate pipelines in the jurisdiction of FERC. Intrastate pipelines (one State) such in Ohio are under the jurisdiction of Ohio Power Siting Board.  No eminent domain as for now. Just my opinion.    

Permalink Reply by Corvette on February 7, 2014 at 10:56pm

Sunoco will be on my land today, surveying without my consent. They are putting an interstate pipeline in from Cadiz Ohio to the state of Delaware. I live in Ohio and the first thing Sunoco told the neighborhood is that they have eminent domain rights. A part of me feels like going crazy on them but it wouldn't get me anywhere.

Permalink Reply by Mark McGrail on February 8, 2014 at 3:15am

Corvette,

You may want to confirm that the company has those rights.

Permalink Reply by Joe Bezel on February 8, 2014 at 6:08pm

Corvette, I was approached by Sunoco last November about surveying for a pipeline.  I said no.  A few weeks ago I found surveying stakes across one of my fields.  I called my attorney; he told me if I find anyone trespassing in the future to call law enforcement.  He also told me I could remove the stakes if I wanted.  They made a nice fire.  He told me eminent domain by interstate pipeline companies in Ohio is largely untested; the cases end up with the landowner giving up, the company finding an alternate route or with a large check.  He feels we can prevail.  I guess we'll find out.

Permalink Reply by Corvette on February 9, 2014 at 12:52am

Joe, they never showed up yesterday. It's not that I'm against pipelines. I don't like Sunoco's tactics.

Permalink Reply by Mark McGrail on February 10, 2014 at 2:29am

Corvette,

I agree with Joe, call the police. The surveyors "may" have the right to enter onto your property but they should have to prove it.

Permalink Reply by Mark McGrail on February 8, 2014 at 3:13am

Gary,

Your point is well taken. Of course my comments are limited to the intrastate pieplines.

That brings up another point, unscrupulous land men/women have used the threat of eminent domain to scare people into signing ROW agreements. Most of the time the pipeline project they are working on is not covered by eminent domain. So if you are planning on signing a ROW agreement because you are afraid of eminent domain action you should first consult an experienced attorney. You should have been consulting an attorney the whole time but if you weren't now is the time, before you sign.

Permalink Reply by Corvette on February 8, 2014 at 3:31am

Mark, this has just begun so I have not consulted an attorney yet, but I intend to. I have no intention of rushing into anything.

Permalink Reply by Kathi Albertson on February 8, 2014 at 4:34am
Due to a pipeline replacement project on my land, I am seeing first hand the result of the eminent domain process. Over the years I have purchased three contiguous parcels of land, all of which were crossed by an interstate pipeline. The farmer that owned two of the parcels when the line went through, would not agree, thus had his land condemned and taken by eminent domain. The ROW agreement that was written by the court was very specific, limiting the permanent ROW to 30 feet.

The owner of the third parcel signed the boiler plate ROW agreement with no limits on the permanent ROW. Fortunately for us, the third parcel is very narrow.

So now we are negotiating with a major pipeline company as to what they need to pay for the work space that they need in order to replace 2900 feet of pipeline that crosses our land. We are grateful to the farmer that was not intimidated by the threat of eminent domain back in 1956.

While I recognize that we need an infrastructure to move these natural resources, those of us with land need to be stewards of what we own. Of course we are working with an attorney.
Permalink Reply by Mark McGrail on February 8, 2014 at 6:08am

Kathi,

Reading your last paragraph made me think; someone reading my comments might come to the conclusion that I oppose ROW's, I don't.

Without ROW's there are no pipelines and without pipelines there is no no shale development.

As you point out Kathi landowners are stewards of their property, it is a wonderful gift to be able to own property. We are responsible to protect it, and being careful when deciding to allow a pipeline ROW falls into the category of protecting the land.

Permalink Reply by Barbara on February 8, 2014 at 5:19am

i signed for gas pipeline.....my attorney advised me that, yes, the wording was such that if i didn't the  gas company could do it anyway.  great.  as it was, i at least was able to partially decide where the pipeline would cross my land to do the least permanent change, 'they' could put it anywhere they wanted otherwise. row was to be returned to 'original condition'.  it was originally relatively flat on the surface, had been a farmed field, so was mostly free of surface rocks, and the vegetation was a collection of plants of many kinds that had established themselves over a period of many years.

now???  too full of furrows for me to walk across or to drive my yard tractor over without getting 'hung up'- on the many hills and valleys; the surface doesn't have even a square yard without numerous rocks of considerable size spread over it; and at least 80% was planted with queen anne's lace....a plant that quickly establishes a large root system that enables it to rapidly crowd out other vegetation.

essentially, this row (50' wide) is now useless to me.  it used to have paths for walking, and the varied ecosystems from area to area  were beautiful from season to season; i cannot even mow it to rid it of the QAL .  period.  forever.  because i had no recourse the way my lease was written...in 2008 during the beginning of  the big take-over for mineral rights and surface land,  no one OUTSIDE the industry seemed to know anything about these leases or how to advise us for the most protection to ourselves.

i am in bradford co in pa

Permalink Reply by Mark McGrail on February 8, 2014 at 6:03am

Barbara,

Does your ROW agreement have a clause that discusses reclamation ?

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