Gas Company Pissing Me Off!

[Will]

Are you sure you own the mineral rights? Do you have a mineral title? Your county may not have anything and your title office may not guarentee that anything but surface rights come with the property.

In the US, unlike most countries, the mineral and surface rights were bound together. Most contries, their government own the subsurface.

In the US though, lots of land was granted to the railroads by the government for expanding the rail system in the late 19th century. The surface title might have moved on, but the railroads often seperated the subsurface rights. Also, as gas, oil and coal was discovered, mining and oil compananies often bought people's rights even if they had no intention of immediately exercising them. If you live in an area where gas has been known to exist, there's a good chance the rights were purchased a century ago. Some states, like Indiana, have a law that reverts the rights back to the surface owner if they haven't been exercised within a given period of time--20 years here. Some states don't. Some states say that the owner of the mineral rights has use of the surface as needed to extract the oil/gas/coal without imbursement to the surface owner. In other words, 100 years ago Standard Oil could have bought your subsurface rights and tomorrow show up with a drilling rig waving a yellowed mineral title in your face and not give you anything but a wrecked lawn and some attractive permanent structures in your back yard.

Even if your state has laws that say the subsurface title has to be recorded in the county office, it may not be there. It may be in a federal land office somewhere--or the gas company may have the only copy and you may be in court.

As far as eminent domain goes--it's laughable that people worry and fight so much over presidential elections but the bastards that phuck you over are your little local government people that you pretty much pass right over on the ballot. Yes, they can eminent domain you property for a gas well.vIt only has to be for the public benefit, it does not have to be taken over by the government--it can be a forced sell to a private company.

You own your property--right down to your wristwatch--at the leisure of your elected officials. That's what eminent domain means. The state has ultimate ownership of EVERYTHING. If your city council decides your earwax would be beneficial for the public, you have to let them dig it out.

You need a lawyer--option A

Let it go, move onto a shanty boat and tend bar on a beach somewhere--option B

I would take B.

 

[Ranger Kip]

uhm, read my reply on the 2nd page about the meeting

 

[Will]

Teh land belongs to the Natives. The land you so proclaim to own is stolen loot.

No, it's too close to the early colonies to be stolen loot. It was probably honestly obtained.

The early settlements were not strong enough to hold off the natives. There were so few natives that they were not territorial. They didn't see the original settlers as an invasion, just as a discovered nuisance, and a curiosity. The native Americans had no title office or elected officials or organized governement. They were extremely unusual humans at that period in history. They had no civilization at all. They had language, art and such, but they relied on having huge resources available to support a tiny population. They had no hardships in their past to force them to evolve into a civilization so they were helpless when the clash with the organized majority of humanity arrived. The horrifying things were done by the US government a couple three centuries later. The land in question was too early for any of that.

Besides, the laws of nature govern the planet. We are not above nature. You are a flauke, sneak across the ice bridge in a good year or sail across the Pacific on a bail of hay and discover, frankly, Eden. You have it easy, run around for a few thousand years in the land of plenty picking berries and the best weapon you need is a sharp stick.

On the other side of the planet people are roiled in war for ten centuries. These people have, from neccesity, learned engineering, both civil to support large populations in small spaces, and military. It was natural for groups of these people to find more space. And when two populations of the same species meet, the strongest moves their token to the next square. It is nature's way.

There is no way to NOT follow the rules of nature, unless you are supernatural.

 

[Will]

uhm, read my reply on the 2nd page about the meeting

I did. It doesn't mean it will never happen to anyone ever again though. Life is short. Every discussion is pertinent.

I also can't believe that of you were so worried about it that a simple staement by some EPA guy would end the thing. Either it wasn't that big of a threat to begin with, or that they might just do their own study to see how it might really effect the creek. The whole town gets their water from a creek?

 

[97RangerXLT]

from what I got from the original post, the issue was using the right away or easement to run a gas supply line, not drilling. If there is already an easement for other public utilities, then they are by law able to access those utilities to add or repair without you(the landowner) giving consent. so if your house sits on top of that easement (if it does, you need to find the contractor that made it and kick him square in the balls, as this was dumb and illegal on his part) they can legally tear it down to access those lines.

AJ

 

[Ranger Kip]

read 2nd to last thing I said on page 2