To Lease or Not to Lease: Has Anyone NOT signed a lease? I'd like to hear why you didn't

My wife and I are part of a landowners group that is in the process of having their Range Resources contract reviewed by attorneys.  We only have 3.2 acres and have not decided whether we are actually going to sign a lease.  I am curious to hear from people who started to go through the process and then at some point decided against it.  I'd like to hear your reasons.  FYI - I'm not posting this so I can attack people's decisions.  I am genuinely interested in hearing from people who decided not to sign a lease.  

 

Thanks in advance!

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Permalink Reply by Barbara on September 29, 2011 at 6:38am

this is a big relief about insurance.   i must say i have never ever heard before of difficulties related to pipelines, etc., except for the increase in water damage related areas of my latest policy.  damage to or from water. 

 

thanks for some GOOD news............................you are in PA, right?

Permalink Reply by mike4t on September 29, 2011 at 6:41am
Yes Butler County
Permalink Reply by Jonathan A Jones on September 29, 2011 at 6:39am

Mike - I am simply relaying information that I was given yesterday by the customer service rep.  He said that in light of the recent flurry of activity the company was reviewing and in some cases updating policies for customers in certain areas.  Is it possible that the person was mistaken?  Sure because I have not received anything in the mail about this.  

I'm glad you have had a positive experience with your well.  It would be nice if more stories like yours were out there.  But I think your statement about the "rag tag" drillers is spot on.  These companies are leasing land at record pace and bringing in crews, some inexperienced, to do the drilling.  You're going to have accidents and you're going to have mistakes.  I just want the companies and our government do our due-dilligence. I firmly believe that they are going at such a fast pace because they want to try to outrun any legislation that may come down in the next 12 - 18 months that may make this process less appealing in their eyes.  

Permalink Reply by Jake Jackson on September 28, 2011 at 4:24pm

This isn't true, they are leasing as much land as they can everywhere they can.  The problem is now that they are drilling all over the place they can't ship it unless they have pipe line to go across all the drilling sites.  They will tell you anything to get you to sign.

Insurance companies are canceling insurers because of the negative effects people are having.  Banks aren't loaning money for housed near any drilling activity or pipe lines so if you get in with them, they will ruin your property, and you will be stuck like people in PA, having to leave everything just to get out of the dangers it brings.  People are getting very sick, kids are coming down with awful chemicals in their blood and live stock is dying.  This is the worse thing that could happen to this country.  It is not regulated, Land-men are lying, companies are taking advantage of people and no one is paying attention. Just Google Fracking and find out for yourself what is happening in PA, TX, CO, AK, WY, where ever it is there are major problems.  We all need help and we need it fast.

Permalink Reply by Mickgyver on September 28, 2011 at 5:32pm
where are some of these articles about the children getting chemicals in their blood related to oil wells and also livestock dying , send us some sites to look at that are not biased one way or another to get the real truth and I am certain it will get more than a look
Permalink Reply by Jonathan A Jones on September 29, 2011 at 2:22am
Mickgyver - I cannot point you to any stories that I found online but through Marcellus Outreach Butler, my wife was able to speak directly with people who have been affected / afflicted with the some / all of the above things.  Part of the reason why you don't hear stories in the papers is that when these gas companies come in to clean up whatever mess they make part of the cleanup agreement is a non-disclosure agreement that the occupants must sign.
Permalink Reply by craig on September 29, 2011 at 5:41am

Jonathan,

In my limited experience with these types of non-disclosure agreements it has been used because the affected party knows that it can not prove their claim in court and/or the affected company doesn't want the exposure to frivilous news articles. They settle for xx$'s and sign the non-disclosure to get it behind them, regardless if they are lying or telling the truth. Of course some folks will use this as a cash cow, regardless of whatever the facts are... there are all kinds of folks out there.

Jonathan, Just think about it, why in the world would you sign a non-disclosure on a settlement IF you knew that in fact you are right and they are wrong? However, I'm sure there are some instances that one may want to sign. 

The first ones on the scene of real problems like you speak of are the lawyers, and believe me they would be all over this if it was as wide spread as some believe. There are too many "stories" out there to debunk them all here, you need to dig deeper to find the truth. Yes there have been some problems and those can be found at gov't reporting sites, not some anti drilling site. 

Be smart, think for yourself and live by your decisions....you will have to live by them right or wrong.

 

Permalink Reply by Jonathan A Jones on September 29, 2011 at 6:01am

Craig,

 

Thank you for your reply.  Look at it from the affected homeowner perspective - What choice do they have?  In the case of the people my wife spoke with there is scientific evidence that the water quality has changed since drilling began.  They sign the non disclosure agreement because they can't afford a long drawn out legal battle and they can't afford NOT to have water.  It's not like it's just some property that is damaged and needs replaced like a car or even a structure.  

I agree with you - there are some people out there that would take advantage of the situation and create a problem when there really wasn't one.  

Permalink Reply by craig on September 29, 2011 at 8:35am

Those folks need to call the governors hotline, or even the DEP and relay their situation. It would be investigated, I'm sure. There are plenty of gov't employees in the DEP that are against drilling and would jump at the opportunity to investigate. I've been on well sites and have customers that work in both fracing and drilling.  The amount of scrutiny they deal with is almost overbearing at times. So anyone who believes the gov't is ALL on the drillers side is sadly mistaken. 

On the other side of the coin, I do believe more can be done to make this as safe as humanly possible and the drillers have been updating their practices appropriately and in a more timely fashion......mostly because we ARE holding their feet to the fire so to speak. 

 

 

Permalink Reply by paleface on September 29, 2011 at 5:51am
 Jonathan ,a nondiclosure agreemant how could that be inforced sounds like total BS to me ?
Permalink Reply by Jonathan A Jones on September 29, 2011 at 6:06am

I'm not sure what your point is... It's just like any other non-disclosure agreement is enforced.  They are done all the time, especially when it involves someone / a group of someones taking a large corporation to court over some alleged wrong doing.  The financial aspect of it swings both ways.  Regardless of whether the company is in the right or wrong, they settle out of court because it's cheaper for them both financially and from a PR standpoint than a long, drawn out and possibly very public trial where evidence (factual or spun) would be part of the court record.  In return for settlement, the company will often demand that the plaintiffs not speak about the case for x number of years.

In answer to your question, yes - they can't sew your mouth shut or go to extreme lengths to prohibit you from communicating with people.  But they can take you to court for breach of contract.

Permalink Reply by Barbara on September 29, 2011 at 6:21am

or 'simply' cut off the water!!!  who among us could ever afford to pay the legal fees to fight one of these huge corporations.........unless maybe we had a thousand acres pouring in royalties!!!?  the non-disclosure clauses are very real and used a lot....keeps a lot of the details/incidents out of the paper, and off any government reporting lists. 

i have no idea how much of this has already gone on, but it DOES go on and right here in good ol' bradford county.

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