Eminent Domain Issues…

Check this link for a map that corresponds to the pipeline information below.

Central New York Oil And Gas Company Proposed MARC I Hub Line Project (tentative)

Central New York Oil & Gas (CNYOG) company has applied to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to build and operate  a 39-mile long, 30-inch diameter natural gas pipeline that would run through parts of Bradford and Lycoming Counties in PA. There are compressor stations involved, also. This pipeline will probably involve eminent domain issues.

To read  information about this proposed project on the FERC website, click here:

http://www.ferc.gov/for-citizens/projectsearch/SearchProjects.aspx?Region=Northeast

Scroll your way to page 18 of the 22 pages on the site. Below is a copy of the section on that page pertaining to the project (MARC I Project).

Central New York Oil And Gas Company Proposed MARC I Hub Line Project (tentative)

Compulsory Integration?

I was wandering around a few of the websites I frequent for info about natural gas and came across this term. “Compulsory Integration”. I was completely unfamiliar with it so I thought I’d look into a bit and see what I could find, and if the findings were interesting enough, share them with all of you.

Compulsory Integration is what happens when multiple land owners in an area sign leases with a gas company and someone in the middle of this block chooses not to sign a lease. It is sometimes referred to as ” eminent domain”.  At this point the drilling companies are given the ability by the state to take the gas from under a plot of land that the owner does not wish to sell.

I found a lot on this topic for NY state but very little for PA. As far as I can tell from what I did read, eminent domain is not being used in the state of PA at this time, but it is in NY state. If anyone has more information about this topic, especially in regards to PA, please let me know. I did post a few links that had good info on the topic and land lease agreements below.

This link is to an article from a magazine that includes an interview with an agriculture expert in NY state. They discuss this topic a bit in the article.

http://magissues.farmprogress.com/AMA/AM07Jul09/ama008.pdf

This link offers a good overview of what the land leases may or may not include and concerns to think about and consider prior to signing a lease. It does talk about compulsory integration.

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/2133197/gas-leases