From Jerry Lobdill,
Retired Chemist
Author of Statistical Analysis of “Significant Incident” Data for Barnett Shale Gas Wells
This problem is exacerbated by a culture of entitlement in the O&G industry that goes back almost 100 years. It is also exacerbated by our apparently inexorable movement toward fascism–another artifact of corporate hegemony.
This is a “problem” because there is cognitive dissonance between the American idea that your house is your home and home is your castle, and the ideas that your power should depend on your wealth and that economic analysis should always rule what is to be done.
This slide into fascism began in 1886 with the corporate assault on the 14th amendment (Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company) The ruling in that supreme court case has been twisted through stare decisis (precedent law) to grant all rights in the Bill of Rights to corporations. (The 14th Amendment was written to apply to former slaves, not corporations, and the case was not about 14th Amendment rights.) Then in Kelo v. New London the 5th amendment received its own diabolical twist when the right of eminent domain was expanded to permit the taking of property for any economic reason whatever by government.
In Texas that right has been tweaked a little further in the fascist direction to permit governments to delegate their eminent domain power to corporations, which have only a requirement to file an application with the Texas Railroad Commission to be considered officially a “public utility” even though they are a wholly owned subsidiary of a gas drilling company and their only customer is their parent corporation.
Eminent domain had already been twisted so that mineral rights trump surface rights and drilling companies, with their history of belief in their entitlement to do whatever they want on the surface because they’re top dog, have ruined untold thousands of acres of ranch and farm land (See for example Rancho Los Malulos ) in Texas since the beginning of the oil boom in the first decade of the 20th century.
If we’re ever to return to the kind of government the Founders intended, surface rights owners will have to force the issue through class action lawsuits.
Why would any sane person assume that the drilling and pipeline industry has clean hands and gives a damn about the surface owner?
Jerry Lobdill
Not only is the “system out of whack,” Big Oil’s mantra that WE the People (never the industry) must sacrifice for the sake of “energy independence,” seems manipulative considering that we are still exporting gas.
North American gas’ reversal of fortune
Shale-gas exploration success in North America is creating a new gas-export industry, writes Thom Dawson, vice-president, Kitimat LNG
…
Now the global LNG industry is contending with a third shift. The rise of North American shale-gas production will change …
From the Marcellus Shale:
Eminent Domain Can Trump Property Rights
(MYFOX NATIONAL) – Lynda Farrell and her husband bought their 200-year-old stone farmhouse in Chester County, Penn., because they liked the heavily wooded area surrounding it. “We wanted the peace and the quiet and the privacy,” Lynda Farrell said. Instead, they ended up with a legal battle over land rights.
The problem is, when the Farrells bought their home back in 1992, a natural gas company controlled a 75-foot swath of land for a buried pipeline. Now the company wants to expand the size of the pipeline and needs at least another 20 feet of that wooded area.
The Farrells have rejected a $13,000 offer, and now the company says its last resort is eminent domain, which permits the government to take property if it benefits the public.
“It seems to me that the system is out of whack when the landowner does not have the right to protect their quality of life,” said Lynda Farrell.
The Williams Company, which owns the pipeline, says the law of eminent domain in this case guarantees the public will have energy when it needs it. “No one wants to be told that their property has to be, has to be used for a pipeline to come through so somebody else can benefit from that,” said Mario DiCocco, The Williams Company’s Director of Field Operations. “But we all benefit as a nation by using our own resources and not relying on resources coming from other countries overseas.”
One thing on which both sides agree is that with domestic energy demand increasing, more homeowners like Lynda Farrell will be facing the threat of eminent domain.
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.
- Web |
- More Posts(5121)
I didn’t realize that Pennsylvania has eminent domain laws. This is very disturbing to those of us sitting atop the Marcellus Shale.
There is so, so much about this deal that you haven’t realized yet because they let the horrors unfold a little bit at a time.
I knew Texas has eminent domain, but I thought perhaps PA was different. I think every state has its own laws. That makes it confusing since I am dealing with PA and NY. But you are right. I am only just beginning to learn what is coming. I have already found out about the next steps after a gas well is drilled. There’s the matter of water pumping stations, meter stations, compressor stations, and injection wells. Those issues are all being discussed now in PA. I know also that wells are re-fracked every few years. This is all bad stuff. Oh, I forgot the pipelines, too. Even they require wide swaths of land. What else have I forgotten?
You’ve forgotten about the Amine gas treating plants to sweeten the gas–many emissions! And then there are the frequent workover operations at the well sites. And then there is the abundant treatment equipment at the well sites–like dehydrators or injectors, etc. And then there are the inevitable pipeline leaks, etc. etc. etc! Want more?
I knew there was more….is there no end?
Lynda Farrell here…. We held our ground, literally, and Williams Transco took us to eminent domain in a federal court.
We questioned the need for extraordinary increases in Right of Way, the safety of added Right of Way in an environment of steep slopes, tributaries to and including the historic Brandywine Creek & massive deforestation of said steep slopes and watersheds. MOST IMPORTANT, we pointed to the absence of required permits.
Four neighbors joined me & my husband – five families who the Judge dubbed: “The Brandywine Five.” He noted we were not in it for money, we were protecting our homes – our environment – & we had done our homework:
In the FERC CONDITIONAL approval, Williams Transco was required to obtain PA DEP Permits in/on our lands, tributaries & Brandywine Creek. PA DEP had not granted the permits.
That did not happen easily. We educated and engaged our legislators and local government who went with us to PA DEP on multiple visits. PA DEP began to understand on the ground implications and their Federal obligations under Clean Streams. Permits were denied.
In absence of PA DEP permit, the judge denied a quick take (Eminent Domain). The FERC Certificate then lapsed (Certificates have a 2 year lifespan), still absent of the needed permit under Conditional Approval.
Williams Transco LOST their Eminent Domain case.
In late 2010 the Court ruled the Brandywine Five were justified in our appeal. The Brandywine Five won in eminent domain court.
The Brandywine Five were awarded court costs.
This is a very substantial ruling. Now that the ink is dry…in the last month really, we'll be making this information known widely.
This is not to say everyone can win in an eminent domain case, but it changes the position of the bar.
Eminent Domain is hitting PA now in the drilling arena, but pipelines will follow!
There WILL be pipelines laid to carry that fuel off your land and if you've signed a lease for drilling without discussing pipelines you're already behind the industry. My guess is that a signed drill lease will "assume" you knew pipelines would be laid, so be proactive in the process of protecting your land use rights.
Sunday afternoon thoughts……L