There's been a lot of discussion around natural gas drilling in the area lately, and a lot of confusion around the basics of the leases that let it happen. Whether you're hoping to lease your land, wondering if it's a good or bad idea, or hope never to see your land drilled, figuring out those basic issues will help you figure out how all of this works. Leasing is a separate set of questions from the many regulatory issues, though it's still more complicated than just deciding if you want to sign a lease or not.
Fortunately, Cooperative Extension and a few other participants will be having an event October 29th to look at this aspect of the gas story. It's mostly a separate set of questions from the state's environmental impact statement and local efforts to regulate this industry, but it's critically important to understand if your own property is in the neighborhood of gas leases, especially if you're hearing from gas company landsmen directly.
Posted by simon at October 7, 2009 8:06 PM in energyGas Drilling: Legal Issues for Landowners (with or without a lease)
A free educational forum, open to all
With increased natural gas development in the Southern Tier will come new and complex legal issues that affect both landowners and communities. Please join us on Thursday, October 29, from 7:00 to 9:30 pm to hear presentations by legal experts, followed by an opportunity to ask questions.
The forum will be held at Cornell Vet School's James Law Auditorium on Tower Road, just a block from Rt.. 366.
Topics will include:
- lease terms and considerations
- "force majeure" lease extensions
- intricacies of lease extension/expiration
- compulsory integration (the legal extraction of gas from under unleased lands)
- liability issues
- protection of rights and property
All are encouraged to attend this unique event sponsored by the Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) South Central NY Agricultural Team, together with Shaleshock Citizens Action Coalition, Community Science Institute, Finger Lakes Bioneers, Interfaith Action for Healing Earth, NYS Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton, Sustainable Tompkins, and Tompkins County Farm Bureau.
For more information, please contact Schuyler CCE at 607-535-7161, or Tompkins CCE at 272-2292, or by email at: cab377@cornell.edu. More details will soon be posted to the CCE Natural Gas Development Resource Center website: http://gasleasing.cce.cornell.edu/ .