As the natural gas boom and its heavy reliance on hydraulic fracturing moves closer to more populated areas, there is debate about laws that give drillers the ability to drill on a landowners' property over their objections if enough neighbors agree to the drilling.
Marc Levy of The Associated Press reports the laws are drawing criticism in the heavily drilled areas of the Northeast, including Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. Many of those states have been revisiting drilling laws to better handle the gas boom.
Mandatory pooling laws were created to assure that profits from drilling were shared among both unwilling and willing property owners, said John Keller, a lawyer representing Ohio drillers. "The arrangement prevents neighbors from allowing drillers to suck resources from under another's land without compensation, while allowing interested landowners to exercise their mineral rights," Levy reports. Pooling laws have long been mandatory in Texas and other major oil states. After the Northeast gas boom started in 2008, pooling laws were the top priority of gas-industry lobbyists in Pennsylvania. No legislation has been introduced, though, and Republican Gov. Tom Corbett, who is an industry supporter, opposes the law, saying it's "tantamount to private eminent domain."
Citizens have a hard time fighting the laws, Levy reports. The Technical Advisory Council is the regulatory body that makes decisions about pooling laws in Ohio, but an AP investigation revealed the council has sided with the industry 43 out of 56 times since 2009 in cases where private landowners opposed drilling on their land. The council recommended only three industry mandatory pooling requests. Six of eight members represent oil and gas producers, and all members are appointed by the governor. (Read more)
Marc Levy of The Associated Press reports the laws are drawing criticism in the heavily drilled areas of the Northeast, including Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. Many of those states have been revisiting drilling laws to better handle the gas boom.
Mandatory pooling laws were created to assure that profits from drilling were shared among both unwilling and willing property owners, said John Keller, a lawyer representing Ohio drillers. "The arrangement prevents neighbors from allowing drillers to suck resources from under another's land without compensation, while allowing interested landowners to exercise their mineral rights," Levy reports. Pooling laws have long been mandatory in Texas and other major oil states. After the Northeast gas boom started in 2008, pooling laws were the top priority of gas-industry lobbyists in Pennsylvania. No legislation has been introduced, though, and Republican Gov. Tom Corbett, who is an industry supporter, opposes the law, saying it's "tantamount to private eminent domain."
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