Marion County Man Challenges Land Use by Gas Drillers

by Dee Fulton on July 7, 2011

A lawsuit filed by Richard Cain in Marion County argues that gas producers cannot use one person’s land as a staging area to access gas on his neighbor’s land.   A 12-acre wellpad placed on Cain’s property and two more planned wellpads are projected to consume 36 acres of Cain’s 105 acre farm.   The law gives mineral owners the right to come on a surface owner’s land to get at coal, gas or oil beneath.   The argument is that while the gas rights were severed from Cain’s property and the neighbors property, little gas will be taken from his land by the wells.  It is charged that the wells will principally access the gas on adjoining property through horizontal drilling that can potentially go over two miles underground.  David McMahon, cofounder of the West Virginia Surface Rights Organization, is representing Cain in the suit against XTO Energy and Waco Oil and Gas.

This suit could have a significant implications in the surface owners and mineral owners rights debate.

Charleston Daily Mail story, July 5, 2011

Leave a Comment

Previous post:

Next post: