Absolutely amazed there are no maps showing the pipeline across my land at Quaker Lake. The line is suposedly dormant at present but easily visible from aerial maps running north across Penn Ave, Webb Rd and up along Vestal Hills CC.
I have a small parcel of land (21) acres near forest lake in susquahana county. I recently received an offer of 3k per acre bonus, plus 15% royalties or 2.5k per acre bonus, plus 20%. Also, many pages of impossible to understand legaleze contracts. Anyone know who to talk to about this? Group for our county with already written contracts?
Are you aware of the efforts that the Friendsville group have making to get the landowners of Susquehanna County a landowner friendly lease, and a good royalty and bonus amount? If not, go to their page:
http://www.thefriendsvillegroup.org/
and read about this. The gas company, Fortuna, is adding selected acreage, at their discretion, to be added to the membership's acreage, but you have to act soon. They require that you send an "Add-On Application" to them before 5:00 Wednesday to start the process to be considered. It is not binding, as far as I know, but it will give you time to review the lease before signing. The terms are $5500 per acre, 20% royalty, and 5 years. I highly recommend it, and have recommended it to many people in the Forest Lake area.
I have a question for those of you who have signed a lease or any lawyers who might know the answer. The drilling and hydrofracking operation will produce 4 to 9 million gallons of polluted water each time the well is hydrofracked. While, in theory, this should not penetrate the aquifer, in practice, it will nearly be impossible to avoid some spills. Do any of the leases spell out who is liable if there is a major contamination event?
Terry -- I checked in with our VP of land wo has been around the country working with landowners and leases. He tells me hasn't seen any leases that spell out water spills in specifics, but more and more leases have strong language that identifies the operator as responsible for various spills, environmental damage and the like, while indemnifying the landowner or lessor from the same.
As far as hydrofracing goes, here are some things to keep in mind:
first, frac fluid(that which goes into the well) is different from flow back water that comes back out and is stored in large, lined impoundments until it is taken away for disposal. Fracing Fluid is pumped in through a very intricate and monitored system of equipment and piping -- I've attached a pic below. Fracs in the Marcellus occurr about 7,000 to 10,000 feet below ground. This is a very monitored and automated process, that is regularly tweaked to ensure the best gas return. Fracing fluid, regardless of what you may have heard from more excitable groups, has never contaminated a water source in nearly 60 years, and thats working on wells much shallower than these. Flow back water, can contain salts and metals -- some spills could cause surface environmental damage but would be remediated by the driller. Flow back water contents can vary from well to well, based on what occurrs naturally in that part of the formation. Some flow back water could be more damaging than other flow back water.
Fracing happens in stages -- the contaminated water produced is much less than your thinking -- a stage takes about 500,000 gallons, average horizontals have about 5 stages. Most flow back procedures reclaim about 50 percent or less of that. The rest is captured by the non-pourous formation as the "fractures" close back up, or returns in smaller volumes through other processes.
Does anyone know anything about a Morgan Research Group/Company? I heard some people are talking to them but I haven't heard anything about who they are or how they fit in.
For those who haven't heard, DEP has shut down Cabot operations in Susquehanna due to their recent spills in and near Stevens Creek. Full information is available on DEPs web site.
if you have signed a 5 year lease, with the right to renew for another 5 years, when the lease expires the first 5 years, do you renegotiate the lease? Do you get paid again the amount you got the first time around? Or do you get nothing? Has anyone dealt with this? Or does anyone know that answer?
Has anyone researched this PGS company wanting permission to survey our lands for gas. It seems to me, the company you signed with shold take care of this. any thoughts?
Michael --I don't know the specifics of this situation, but in oil and gas, much work is contracted in the name of the company that you lease with. So, its common to see other company names doing surveying, land moving, completions, etc.
hey...received a call from Conlin Williams...wants to go on both our properties ...forest lake area...montrose....to drill holes around 100 feet to put dynamite in them for testing??? any feed back on this...Mary D
Hi Mary and Ed - Sounds like they want to do some seismic testing. This is fairly common -- its a way to obtain information on the features of a specific formation. The holes are drilled, a small charge is dropped in the hole and exploded. Vibrations underground are collected as sound waves by instruments called geophones, which produce data than can be interpreted by geophysicsts. You may also hear it referred to as 3D. The practice is simiar to another seismic type study you may have heard of, or seen in action in your area, in which large trucks poduce the vibrations into the formation from the surface (thats 2D). Seismic technology and data helps drilling companies find the best places to locate wells, for the best potential resource return.
Putting dynamite in a hole on your property can sound a little concerning. These charges however, do not produce large damaging explosions. The drilled holes are filled after use. Like anything else, make sure there is a contract in place to do this, and have an attorney review it before you sign. If your land is already leased to a drilling company, however, and Conlin Williams is a contractor to that company, there very well may be a provision in that lease for this work. Take a look there. If not, and your properties are not leased yet, I'd do separate contracts for seismic and drilling activities.
wow..very good....great info..we have a lease with someone ..received a contract today in the mail..reading it over..we get back to you later;;thank you
All you landowners that have been pushed by by Laser Midstream, we need to push back. Please go to this web site and file a formal compliant with the PUC. You do not need legal representation for this. You will get your day in court to express your concers and compliants regarding this company. We need to stand together and speak out regarding this company.
Laser Midstream has submitted a request to become a public entity, we must file these complaints ASAP.
PGS is a company subcontracted by at least ALTA. I have been recently contacted by them to perform seimic testing, but myself and one neighbor are a bit uncertain about it. Primarily because the property between us just signed a full lease after they stated they were not going to sign at all. (I should mention, we have a sub-surface lease only.) We are a bit concerned they now may want to put a well on our neighbor's property will the full lease. All three properties encompass a little over 100 acres and they already have a pad-site 1.2 miles away. If we do not let them test, I am wondering if this will discourage them a bit. I may be worrying about nothing, but I really do not want a well that close.
Bill..were are you? just spoke to our neighbor..they will be putting a well behind the Community bldg..only 15 acres from us..in montrose...off ridge road....We signed with Alta 2 years ago..have a call into them as of yesterday.....no seimic testing yet from PGS..sent someone to suvey land where well and septic is located..more snow coming..nothing will happen for awhile...haaa..at least till the thaw..Mary D
I am within walking distance of state game land 140 off 858, about 25 miles outside of Montrose. Also very close to the old Jackson Valley pottery if that rings a bell. PGS Rep just called again tonight. We may tell them "no" to the sesmic testing. I am not really concerned about the sesmic, but I am concerned they may put a well within a couple hundred yards of my back door. He said he would have someone from Alta contact me. Stay tuned...
Spoke with Alta today...Cabot is all around us and they are putting up well at Township bldg..Alta stated thet Cabot does their own sesmic testing..and if we are in a unit ..which we would be on both properties Cabot will have to contact alta....all neighbors signed ...in 2007 for 50 acre I feel so bad for them ..with Cabot....... we didn't even give it 2 thoughts for 64.00 an acre from cabot.....soo we were the last to sign but with Alta....good luck..keep us posted and I will do the same
Hey Bill, I see you are close to state game land 140, we have property on the 706 end of route 858, PGS has been on our property for the last two weeks doing seismic activity. I see you are signed with Alta, is there any word if Alta is doing any activity in the near future down that way? I believe the only well between you and I would be the one on Powers??? Have you heard of any others going in?
Yes. There is a pad under contruction on the Mike Evans farm which is on State Game Land Road about one mile away from me. PGS is getting ready to do sesmic testing in our area now. Myself and a neighbor signed a non-surface only lease with Alta. There is a 26 acre parcel between us and at the time the owner was not interested in signing any type of lease. We recently found out he signed a full lease. I am really concerned now that they may want to put a well on his property. It may just make sense for Alta. They have the well on Mike's and would go righ up to the SGL 140. Cabot also has the properties to our rear, so it would put Alta in a good position. We have not agreed to seismic testing yet. I want to speak to our Attorney again before we do anything.
Here's another one for the group.. Has anyone said "NO" to seismic testing? Specifically, can lack of the seismic recon discourage a company from drilling in an area?
Hey Tina, Are you by the well that was at 706 and 858? I am wondering what is life like very close to a drill site? I am really nervous I may have one in my backyard.
Jackson Valley Pottery - I know where that was...lol. My Father had a place right next to SGL 140 up the road from Jackson Valley Pottery. I have a place about 10 mins away in Bradford County near LeRaysville.... reading up on the Shale doings next door.
Cabot Oil & Gas (NYSE: COG) ("Cabot") and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection ("PADEP") reached agreement on modifications to the Consent Order previously entered on November 4, 2009 concerning certain environmental issues including alleged methane contamination of 14 water wells ..........
the problem with the water is you guys take it to the sewer plant for processing and discharge, and they cannot remove the minerals and whatnot in it that came up from 10K below before dumping it back into the rivers. This is a problem with PA which has rather weak water safety regulations. So this whole argument about frac fluids, contamination of flow back water etc. misses the point...it's not going to contaminate a leaseholder's land directly, unless the casing is poorly done or there is a spill...it's what happens at the water treatment end at the state level. Youa re discharging in accordance with PA law, it's just that PA has poor standards.
Does anyone know what the different color ribbons stand for? In addition to the pink ribbons, I have recently seen yellow & black striped ribbons on some properties in Silver Lake Twp.
A natural gas drilling company wants to build four compressor stations in Susquehanna County.
A public meeting was held Thursday night to discuss the plan.
People gathered at Elk Lake High School in Springville to hear The presentation by Willams Partners, the company that wants to put up the stations.
The main topic of discussion at the meeting was air quality.
Williams Partners said they want to partner with the community on the issue. “We know it’s important to be good neighbors. We want to be part of the community. Our employees live and work in the area,” said Helen Humpries.
The proposed stations would go up in Liberty Township, Middletown Township and Forest Lake Township in Susquehanna County.
If gas co. automatic withholds Pa. taxes from my royalty statement as the Gov. wants from natural gas for landowners living out of state will I also have to pay those taxes in the state of NJ where i live???
Sandra. I would think you will pay tax in both states. My sister works and has income from NY. She lives in PA and pays both NY and PA tax. It would also be income in N J and taxable.
Anymore taxes and well have more unemployed. Oh and that will mean the government will get less revenue not more. And if the gas company can't hire quality people then production will slow down and less taxes will be paid because production is down then all this people who get rosaries will be paying less and spending less... Better vote for some one who understands this cause and effect.
tina
Sep 8, 2009
hunter777
Hope it helps.
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=109081933932637779023.0004625ed46747fee9053&ll=41.7964,-75.923767&spn=0.425906,0.76973&t=h&z=11
Sep 9, 2009
Mowing the pipeline
Sep 14, 2009
jack brunner
Sep 14, 2009
hunter777
http://www.thefriendsvillegroup.org/
and read about this. The gas company, Fortuna, is adding selected acreage, at their discretion, to be added to the membership's acreage, but you have to act soon. They require that you send an "Add-On Application" to them before 5:00 Wednesday to start the process to be considered. It is not binding, as far as I know, but it will give you time to review the lease before signing. The terms are $5500 per acre, 20% royalty, and 5 years. I highly recommend it, and have recommended it to many people in the Forest Lake area.
Sep 15, 2009
Bill Cluck
pa supreme court hears argument tomorrow in pittsburgh that may define what expenses may be deducted from the royalty.
Sep 15, 2009
Terry R. McGuire
Sep 17, 2009
Louise Noble
Sep 17, 2009
Rita McConnell
As far as hydrofracing goes, here are some things to keep in mind:
first, frac fluid(that which goes into the well) is different from flow back water that comes back out and is stored in large, lined impoundments until it is taken away for disposal. Fracing Fluid is pumped in through a very intricate and monitored system of equipment and piping -- I've attached a pic below. Fracs in the Marcellus occurr about 7,000 to 10,000 feet below ground. This is a very monitored and automated process, that is regularly tweaked to ensure the best gas return. Fracing fluid, regardless of what you may have heard from more excitable groups, has never contaminated a water source in nearly 60 years, and thats working on wells much shallower than these. Flow back water, can contain salts and metals -- some spills could cause surface environmental damage but would be remediated by the driller. Flow back water contents can vary from well to well, based on what occurrs naturally in that part of the formation. Some flow back water could be more damaging than other flow back water.
Fracing happens in stages -- the contaminated water produced is much less than your thinking -- a stage takes about 500,000 gallons, average horizontals have about 5 stages. Most flow back procedures reclaim about 50 percent or less of that. The rest is captured by the non-pourous formation as the "fractures" close back up, or returns in smaller volumes through other processes.
Sep 17, 2009
Rita McConnell
Sep 17, 2009
John Kobylski
Sep 18, 2009
Rita McConnell
Sep 26, 2009
Laurie Kaszuba
Oct 2, 2009
tina
Oct 2, 2009
ray
Oct 12, 2009
Michael Moore
Dec 10, 2009
Rita McConnell
Dec 11, 2009
Mary and Ed
Dec 20, 2009
Rita McConnell
Putting dynamite in a hole on your property can sound a little concerning. These charges however, do not produce large damaging explosions. The drilled holes are filled after use. Like anything else, make sure there is a contract in place to do this, and have an attorney review it before you sign. If your land is already leased to a drilling company, however, and Conlin Williams is a contractor to that company, there very well may be a provision in that lease for this work. Take a look there. If not, and your properties are not leased yet, I'd do separate contracts for seismic and drilling activities.
Dec 21, 2009
Mary and Ed
Dec 21, 2009
Laurie Kaszuba
Laser Midstream has submitted a request to become a public entity, we must file these complaints ASAP.
http://www.puc.state.pa.us/general/filecomplaints.aspx[/color]
Feb 16, 2010
Bill
Feb 24, 2010
Mary and Ed
Feb 24, 2010
Bill
Feb 25, 2010
Mary and Ed
Feb 25, 2010
tina
Mar 3, 2010
Bill
Mar 3, 2010
Bill
Mar 5, 2010
Bill
Mar 5, 2010
Stan Smith
Mar 24, 2010
hunter777
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=116492&p=irol-newsA...
Cabot Oil & Gas (NYSE: COG) ("Cabot") and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection ("PADEP") reached agreement on modifications to the Consent Order previously entered on November 4, 2009 concerning certain environmental issues including alleged methane contamination of 14 water wells ..........
Apr 15, 2010
Al Price
Apr 20, 2010
hunter777
Apr 21, 2010
Al Price
Apr 21, 2010
Al Price
I have not heard that and I follow the shale play pretty close. However, it does seem unlikely, but nothing would surprise me.
May 6, 2010
Henry J. Cittone
Mar 5, 2011
Brian Oram, PG
I am working on trying to compile a Citizens Groundwater and Surfacewater Database - We could use your help. If you want to learn more, go to
http://www.wilkes.edu/water or contact me
Mar 19, 2011
Kathy S
Does anyone know what the different color ribbons stand for? In addition to the pink ribbons, I have recently seen yellow & black striped ribbons on some properties in Silver Lake Twp.
Feb 8, 2012
finn
A natural gas drilling company wants to build four compressor stations in Susquehanna County.
A public meeting was held Thursday night to discuss the plan.
People gathered at Elk Lake High School in Springville to hear The presentation by Willams Partners, the company that wants to put up the stations.
The main topic of discussion at the meeting was air quality.
Williams Partners said they want to partner with the community on the issue.
“We know it’s important to be good neighbors. We want to be part of the community. Our employees live and work in the area,” said Helen Humpries.
The proposed stations would go up in Liberty Township, Middletown Township and Forest Lake Township in Susquehanna County.
Apr 27, 2012
Sandra Jankowski
If gas co. automatic withholds Pa. taxes from my royalty statement as the Gov. wants from natural gas for landowners living out of state will I also have to pay those taxes in the state of NJ where i live???
Aug 16, 2012
Herbert G. Flavell
Sandra. I would think you will pay tax in both states. My sister works and has income from NY. She lives in PA and pays both NY and PA tax. It would also be income in N J and taxable.
Aug 16, 2012
Herbert G. Flavell
Here is another list of tax and I bet there are more I have not thought of.
Natural Gas Facts
1 They create jobs and pay workers that pay income tax
2 They pay registration fees for vehicles
3 They pay a motor fuels tax
4 They pay for a permit to withdraw water from water sources
5 They pay gas well storm water permit for well pads
6 They pay a well bore permit
7 They pay a well permit for each well drilled from the main bore. Can be as many as 12
18 They pay a landowner lease
19 They pay a landowner royalty
20 They pay a Corporation tax
21 They pay a tax on profit to the state
22 They pay a tax on profit to the Fed Govt
23 The landowners pay state tax on royalties
24 The landowners pay Fed tax on royalty
25 They repair the roads they use. Something the state gets 44 cents a gallon for but spends on other than roads.
26 The natural gas buyer pays a tax
27 They pay for permits and right of way for pipelines to get gas to market.
28 Have I missed anything. Thats already 27 fees the natural gas industry pays
29 Now they want an extraction tax and impact fees these 2 would be 28 and 29 fees the industry and landowners pay.
Aug 16, 2012
Jeanette Carrier
Aug 17, 2012