When Anna Driver, Reuter’s reporter, contacted me looking for someone to share their story of fighting Rule 37, I connected her with Ranjana Bhandari. The Texas Railroad Commission used Rule 37 to allow Chesapeake Energy to steal her property. So much for Chairman Smitherman’s claim that he supports private property rights in Texas.
Special Report: The casualties of Chesapeake’s “land grab” across America
By Brian Grow, Joshua Schneyer and Anna Driver
Tue Oct 2, 2012 8:53am EDT
In fact, since January 2005, the Texas agency has rejected just five of Chesapeake’s 1,628 requests for such exceptions, a Reuters review of agency data shows.
That means Smitherman has voted against private property rights 1623 times just where CHK was concerned.
“The principle of it is insane,” said Calvin Tillman, a former mayor of Dish, Texas, a small town north of Fort Worth where drilling has been heavy. “Not only can they take your property, but they don’t have to pay you for it.”
Chesapeake’s use of the Texas law is among the latest examples of how the company executes what it calls a “land grab” – an aggressive leasing strategy intended to lock up prospective drilling sites and lock out competitors.
This article shines a bright light on some of the dirty fracking secrets. It’s Chesapeake Energy’s turn to stand in the spotlight, again. But we need to remember: Chesapeake is not the only or even the worst bad actor. There are far, far worse. Dirty secrets is the overall culture of this industry.
UPDATE: Reuter’s video
About Sharon Wilson
Sharon Wilson is considered a leading citizen expert on the impacts of shale oil and gas extraction. She is the go-to person whether it’s top EPA officials from D.C., national and international news networks, or residents facing the shock of eminent domain and the devastating environmental effects of natural gas development in their backyards.
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Barry Smitherman is another crooked politician on the bank roll of the gas mafia headed by the likes of Matt Pitzarella and Aubrey McClendon.
They are all environmental criminals.
Matt Pizzaman does not head up anything. He simply tells the lies they tell him to tell.
These landmen swarmed our North TX neighborhoods early on. Getting fracked for a lifetime was easily accomplished since $Cash$ upfront was always part of the process. If Dallas allows this destruction of our land in light of what happened to our west…then the industry has been successful with their cash-based campaign once again.