WETLANDS INCLUDED IN LAND LEASED FOR NATURAL GAS WELLS!

The total land leased is 270 acres which includes approx 70 acres of what could be "wetlands".

The land has been subdivided into 10  lots of various sizes from 10-40 acres with 10 owners each owning a pro-rata share of the mineral rights.  We are under the impression that all the owners

would share in any royalties no  matter where a well would be drilled.  Could the "wetlands" included in the leased area be left out of the "production unit" because the gas company wanted no to wait for

approval from the Corp. of Engineers.  There is plenty of dry land to put the wells on to avoid the wet areas but the gas company said if any of the "laterals" went under the wet area that would require corp of engineers permit approval.  The main reason the question is important now is that the 70 acre parcel

that has the majority of the wet lands wants to purchase some additional wet land from my land in return

for me keeping the mineral rights on the land traded to him and he is willing to included additional  mineral rights on his (wet) land.  Can the gas company leave whatever land they want out of  the drilling unit?  If so, the wetland owner without any skin in the game would be a risk for future lawsuits that any

drilling might someday harm his wetland?  Interesting?

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Permalink Reply by george m vietze on May 6, 2014 at 2:46am

Could the Lessee (gas company) leave the wetland out of the "production unit" making the mineral rights with no value (royalties)?  If the geology under the wetlands show potential they might go through the process of approval by Corp. of Engineers.  Are mineral rights on wet-land worth anything?

Permalink Reply by george m vietze on May 6, 2014 at 3:59am

You would need Corp approval with a lateral 6000 feet below the surface of wetlands?

Your lst reply-above...

There obviously are many ways the environment can be effected they claim, so what I gather as long as the "lateral" goes under "wetlands", COE approval must be obtained.

But I guess there are ways of "mitigating wetlands" which is extremely complicated...

Permalink Reply by george m vietze on May 6, 2014 at 10:12am

Jim, thank you for your response. I am going to have to check PA regulations.

This "gas" thing is not for wimps or thorough research.

Permalink Reply by James Foster on May 6, 2014 at 11:00am

http://epa.ohio.gov/Portals/0/general%20pdfs/Ohio%20Regulations%20-...

From Page Five  ... This is from Ohio EPA document but this is a nationwide permitting process so PA and WVA probably follow same/similar regulations.  There is more detail on page five if anyone is interested.  This seems to be more about constructing pad, pipelines, road, surface activities than the lateral under the wetland.  I did not see any information about laterals under the wetland.

Construction Activities that Impact Waters of the State
If constructing a drill site will impact wetlands, streams or other waters of the state, you must obtain
approval from the U.S. Corps of Engineers under Section 404 of the Federal Clean Water Act and Ohio EPA under
Section 401 Water Quality Certification (WQC). Examples of activities that require a 404/401 approval, include:
 excavating or placing fill material in a wetland, stream or lake in order to construct your pad site,
access road, water lines, or production lines;
 stream piping, rerouting or straightening to construct the pad;
 dredging a wetland to create a pond; or
 culverting streams or filling wetlands to construct roadways, water or wastewater piping.

015334grltd9mPermalink Reply by 015334grltd9m on May 6, 2014 at 2:45am

Geroge,

I am involved in a wetlands mitigation project in Youngstown.  Call Bill D'Avignon of the CDA office in the City of Youngstown and he can help you, he is astute on the subject.  Also, YSU has done extensive research on the subject.  You really need to get some good advice, wetlands for mitigation sell and are worth an enormous amount of money per acre, If I remember correctly, over $30,000 and acre.

Permalink Reply by george m vietze on May 6, 2014 at 3:14am

I had no idea what "wetland mitigation" involved!

Here is a link for an extensive report on Wetland Mitigation as it affects the natural gas industry.

http://www.ingaa.org/File.aspx?id=6251

Permalink Reply by george m vietze on May 7, 2014 at 1:49am

Thanks Ron, this gas business get more interesting each day, evidentlly if a parcel of land qualifies for "wetland mitigation" it can apply for approval for "credits" which may latter be sold to developers or gas companies that have wetlands issues and they pay a fee in lieu of mitigation from Wetland Banks that sell these credits which then relieve the gas company from further liability of wetland problems and also speeds up the permitting process.  Sounds like a "shakedown" to me but if it works for all the parties......talk about turning lemons into lemonade but the downside is that not all

wetlands qualify and the process is very complicated.  There are companies that will handle those complexities for a fee.

Permalink Reply by george m vietze on May 7, 2014 at 1:51am
015334grltd9mPermalink Reply by 015334grltd9m on May 7, 2014 at 2:41am

George, I believe it has to fall under a "wetlands mitigation bank;"  but I was floored when I heard what developers pay to mitigate a wetland problem and need an exchange, unbelievable shakedown.

Permalink Reply by george m vietze on May 7, 2014 at 2:52am

Ron, I just spoke with a large company that specializes in Wetland Mitigation and not all 

land qualifies for "credits", evidentally forest land is high on the list.  I gave him my website which has an aerial of the land and he is going to have his land department see if they think it might qualify.  The gas company say the credits would be valuable.

I would like to speak with you about this, is it appropriate if I put my telephone/email

information.

Permalink Reply by george m vietze on May 7, 2014 at 3:32am

I believe you are correct, to qualify there needs to be work done to reclaim, restore etc., and an agreement to preserve also and in turn for that work "credits" are banked.  The debits to the bank is the work done to reclaim etc.,

015334grltd9mPermalink Reply by 015334grltd9m on May 7, 2014 at 12:40pm

Hi George,

Private message me and leave your phone number and I will contact you.  Youngstown State University has a thorough wetlands mitigation study of Youngstown acreage and has opened my eyes to that market.  You can google it.

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