SO...NOW I HAVE NO MORALS?!

As I sat this morning...barely awake and sleepy eyed, I inhale my second mug of coffee.  WKYC news (channel 3 in my area) is on...not really listening at this point, then I see the headline on the screen.....MONEY OR MORALS?  This news segment was about the Utica shale drilling in Ohio and the decision that landowners face regarding to lease or not lease.  They interviewed a gentleman who owned 10 acres and has yet decided to lease or not, due to the possible environmental concerns.  It was your typical news segment on the pros and cons for a landowner, but what REALLY ticked me off was that headline! My family calls me a tree hugger...I feed every stray animal that wanders into my woods, I help the injured, I do nature photography, I donate to charities when I can.  I've paid for food for strangers and I've taken the chance to intervene on certain outright immoral situations when I saw them unfold...BUT, since I HAVE leased with an oil/gas company...I have no morals?!  Of course it couldn't possibly be that I have done enormous amounts of research on the pros/cons of this type of drilling, spent quite a bit of time sorting this all out in my mind and have made an informed decision?!  I have great hope and faith in the overall safety of this type of drilling.  Nothing like adding 'fuel' to the fire!  I'm done venting.

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Permalink Reply by time will tell on December 29, 2011 at 4:30am

Landowners need to focus on the flow back from frac jobs , this poses in my opinion the biggest problem . Disposal is the key !

Permalink Reply by Jim Litwinowicz on December 29, 2011 at 6:39am

IMO the biggest concern is not flowback as that is pretty carefully managed and is regulated by the states. I think the biggest concern is the well casing.  It is casing failures that have caused the most problems with water well contamination. And I do not know how well that is monitored by the regulators. Do they have observers on site during the casing/cementing of wells?  How well is the process documented by the operators? 

Permalink Reply by Jack Straw on December 29, 2011 at 7:42am

If I were annointed King of the Marcellus, one of my first Royal Edicts would be:

All Operators run a Cement Bond Log everytime casing is cemented.

One copy is maintained in the Operators files, accompanied by a letter certifying that the cement bond has no problems. A copy of this letter is sent to me, the King.

One copy is sent to an outside Log Analyst who sends me a letter certifying a good cement bond (this Log Analyst would need to be on my approved contractor list).

One copy is sent to my Chamberlain, for my records.

 

JS

Permalink Reply by David Mohn on December 28, 2011 at 9:15am

WOW, I can so relate to this also.  I have rec'd letters saying how can I lease out my beautiful property to have some gas company ruin it?    Those people don't help me bale hay in the summer.  They don't even help me patch up my old equipment that I use to keep my farm looking beautiful!    Now they want to condem me for leasing and purchasing new equipment to help keep my farm looking beautiful. 

My opinion is that if you want to put fracking to a vote, let each landowner have 1 vote for every acre they own!   You don't own land, you don't get a vote.   You own .5 acres, you get a half a vote.  Why should large landowners suffer because people are jealious of you and can't share in the profits.  They shouldn't be allowed to determine who and when we sell our mineral rights.  I have been very vocal on my stance for fracking.  Some of my neighbors stopped talking to me but I feel I have just as much right to voice my opinions as they do.   When we stand up for fracking, we are call greedy landowners.  I have always been polite towards others and felt they also had the right to say what they want.  But when someone that lives in an apartment has the right to tell me what I can and can not do with my land, I have a problem with that. 

2s72s0k9mm8gdPermalink Reply by 2s72s0k9mm8gd on December 28, 2011 at 10:31am

Exactly David!

Particularly like the 1 acre=1 vote Idea!

Time for the dog to stop being wagged by it's tail !!!

Permalink Reply by George Brown on December 28, 2011 at 11:11am

Better yet, go back to the system considered by some whereby only persons owning property can vote at all! Imagine what a game changer this would be.

Permalink Reply by time will tell on December 28, 2011 at 12:12pm

My feeling exactly David M .

Permalink Reply by brian kulp on December 28, 2011 at 1:32pm

dont forget all the hard work you and your family have put into your land thru the generations of ownershit. And i mean hard work 7 days a week. they have no clue working 9to5 a piece of cake. im glad you got chance to maybe get ahead now david congrates ps i get 18 votes lol

 

 thks brian wayne co refugee lol

Permalink Reply by Kim D on December 27, 2011 at 10:51pm

I hear a big round of rousing BOO'S!!

Permalink Reply by George Brown on December 28, 2011 at 11:15am

Oh my, Katherine. You really don't want to admit to anyone that you agree with Pittsburgh City Council members about anything.  These are the same knuckleheads who want to fine banks for not locating branches in poor neighborhoods. Now just think about that for a moment.  What is a bank?  Well, it's a place where people put their money.  What kind of people, by definition, have very little money?  Poor people! So why would a bank build and staff branches in poor neighborhoods?  This is Pittsburgh City Council at its finest!

Permalink Reply by Kim D on December 27, 2011 at 10:29pm

Thanks Homer, I felt that was a huge positive factor,too.  We only have 16+ acres, I doubt we'll become rich at the lower royalty % from 1983.  Being very comfortable for life...I'd even settle for that out of all of this!

Permalink Reply by Mark Allen on December 30, 2011 at 7:53am

This shale play in Ohio has been great for many folks,some were quick to jump on while others were slow to move.  I have seen wells drilled on $50per acre leasehold and those getting $5000.   What anyone choses to do with their own minerals is their choice,but we all must consider our neighbors when doing so recklessly.  I am so thankful that OHIO started local landowner educational meetings,with basic info and somewhat trends that follow normal plays.  Our family would have signed early on a driller friendly lease,instead we held out and signed with a strong landowner friendly lease and were told last week the pad will be built in Feb.2012.  The main thing I have learned through this process is to slow down,listen and educate myself to the upcoming marketplace and that I should expect the best deal,after all I own my minerals for the time I am on this earth,but the good Lord provided them for all of us.  thanks to the engineers, the laborers, the elected officals and the companies that will unlock our precious minerals for the world to consume.

Drill baby drill, but protect my land and water as well as my way of life......  

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