Hancock Gas Lease

Sullivan County will be hosting a series of public forums designed to provide more information about gas drilling. Their announcement can be read on their web site.

This series of Public Forums, “Understanding Gas Drilling,” will take place at Monticello High School, 237 Route 42 in Monticello, NY, on the following dates: Tuesday – June 29, Thursday – July 15, and Thursday – August 19. All events run from 5:45 PM to 8:30 PM, are free and open to the public.

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The first Public Forum, scheduled for Tuesday, June 29, will cover “Property and Landowner Issues. “ Panelists include

• Chris Denton, an attorney from Elmira, New York, who specializes in representing property owners and landowner coalitions in negotiations over the technical terms of natural gas leases. 
• Bradd Vickers, President of the Chenango County Farm Bureau, has spoken, written and worked extensively with farmers in Central New York on the issues landowners need to consider in signing a gas lease. Both Denton and Vickers participated in a panel organized by the Division of Planning at Sullivan West High School in August 2008. 
• Todd Mathes, an attorney with the Albany law firm of Whiteman Osterman and Hanna, LLP, specializes in environmental and municipal law in New York State. He has written on the complexities involved in local governments exercising home-rule powers with regard to natural gas development, from managing town roads to limited zoning and land use controls.

 
The second Public Forum, scheduled for Thursday, July 15, is sub-titled, “Environmental and Health Concerns.” The panel of speakers will examine potential health and environmental risks associated with natural gas development, the state of current New York State regulations, and industry practices designed to mitigate potential hazards. Panelists include

• Dr. Anthony R. Ingraffea, the Dwight C. Baum Professor of Engineering at Cornell University, who has researched and analyzed the fracturing processes involved in gas shale deposits.
• Dr. Adam Law, MD, a specialist in endocrinology and metabolic medicine and President of the Medical Staff at Cayuga Medical Center in Ithaca, New York, will present his concerns over the lack of information regarding risks to human endocrine and metabolic function contained in New York State’s draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (DSGEIS) covering natural gas development in the Marcellus Shale. 
• Kate Sinding, an attorney and Deputy Director of Urban East Program of the Natural Resources Defense Council, will provide an analysis of the proposed environmental regulations contained in the DSGEIS. 
• Paul Hartman, Director of Government Relations in New York State for Chesapeake Energy Corporation will speak to his company’s approach to mitigating risks through drilling practices and other operations that comprise the natural gas extraction process.

 
The third Public Forum, scheduled for Thursday, August 19, will focus on “Economic and Community Impacts,” exploring the diverse predictions and empirical data on economic “gain” and “strain” among communities that have experienced natural gas development, most recently in the northeast but also over the past decade and longer in western states. Speakers include

• Jannette Barth, an economist with her own consulting firm, J.M. Barth & Associates of Croton-on-Hudson, who has examined potential economic gains and unforeseen costs in New York and Pennsylvania.
• Anthony J. Ventello, Executive Director of Progress Authority of Bradford and Susquehanna Counties, based in Towanda, Pennsylvania, oversees economic development programs for this two-county region experiencing rapid growth of natural gas exploration and extraction. 
• Jeffrey Jacquet is a Ph. D. candidate in the Department of Natural Resources at Cornell University; he is a member of Cornell Cooperative Extension’s “Marcellus Shale Team” and has examined regional economic trends related to natural gas development in Wyoming, Texas and most recently north-central Pennsylvania. 
• Craig Sautner, a resident of Dimmock, Pennsylvania, will speak from direct experience on his community’s challenges with gas drilling.

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For additional information, contact the Sullivan County Division of Planning and Environmental Management, Tel. 845-807-0527, or Email: planning@co.sullivan.ny.us

The Josh Fox film Gasland will be shown on HBO this coming Monday, June 21. It’s scheduled for 9pm.

From the film’s web site:

When filmmaker Josh Fox discovers that Natural Gas drilling is coming to his area—the Catskillls/Poconos region of Upstate New York and Pennsylvania, he sets off on a 24 state journey to uncover the deep consequences of the United States’ natural gas drilling boom. What he uncovers is truly shocking—water that can be lit on fire right out of the sink, chronically ill residents of drilling areas from disparate locations in the US all with the same mysterious symptoms, huge pools of toxic waste that kill cattle and vegetation well blowouts and huge gas explosions consistently covered up by state and federal regulatory agencies. These are just a few of the many absurd and astonishing revelations of a new country called GASLAND.

NPR’s web site has an interview with Mr. Fox, you can listen to it at this link.

It seems like anyone considering signing a lease for gas drilling ought to see this side of the story. At the same time, let’s not lose sight of the fact that this is exactly that: one side of the story, and told by someone who isn’t trying to educate us so much as bring us over to his side. So keep an open mind toward both perspectives: that there are dangers, but also that the movie is engineered to make us come to a certain conclusion, as Michael Moore is famous for. (Note that I haven’t yet seen the film myself, so I could be wrong.)

Thanks to “FlyFisher” for the tip that this is coming.

Just received from the Vestal Gas Coalition (note that we take no stand, for or against, but just intend to make all aware)

To all Coalition Members:

If you have not already heard, Governor Patterson is coming to Binghamton this Wednesday, February 4^th for a Town Hall meeting. Those of us in favor of drilling need to have our voices heard in Albany and this is an opportunity for us to do so in a local venue. Our local legislators and even federal ones (Schumer) are hearing a lot more from anti-drilling groups, than they are from landowners in favor of drilling. The economic impact of gas drilling can positively affect the whole region, not just landowners. Let your voice be heard! This is a town hall style meeting being held at BCC and it is necessary to RSVP. You may obtain more information, register and submit a question to him by visiting http://www.ny.gov/governor/townhalls/register.php.  If you plan on attending, please wear a red shirt to signify the unity of our coalitions in this endeavor. Meet outside the west gym at 4:15 pm. We will try and sit together if we can all get in.

Thanks for your support,

Julie Lewis
Vestal Gas Coalition Steering Committee
607-757-9410

Echoing what attorneys, this site, and pretty much everyone have been advocating for, State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has released a Consumer Alert. In addition to the standard advice about educating yourself and being aware of all the issues, he cautions that gas company land men may be misleading:

The Attorney General’s Office has become aware of potentially misleading or improper tactics used by certain exploration and development companies to obtain leases from landowners. The office is investigating a significant number of complaints from landowners regarding these tactics and urges anyone who believes they have been defrauded by an unscrupulous representative of a gas exploration company to contact his office at 800-771-7755. A new downloadable tip sheet and brochure can be found online at www.oag.state.ny.us/bureaus/environmental/consumer_guides.html. …

For this reason, and because oil and gas leases are extremely complex, Attorney General Cuomo strongly recommends that before signing a lease, landowners should contact an attorney to secure professional, personalized advice in this important transaction.

Landowners thinking about signing an oil and gas lease should consider the following:

• Review each term and condition of the lease with your attorney.
• Ask all necessary questions to ensure that you understand all terms and conditions on the lease.
• Obtain in writing all promises and conditions, and make sure those written promises are part of the lease.
• Negotiate as you may get better terms than those initially offered to you.
• Search for and negotiate with more than one gas operator.
• There is strength in numbers. Consider negotiating your lease together with a group of neighbors or interested parties.
• Obtain copies of the lease you sign and a copy of the lease signed by both you and the gas operator to make sure it reflects the agreement reached with the landman.
• The right to cancel is yours for three business days after signing the lease. But to cancel, you must comply strictly with all requirements (consult your attorney).

To help educate landowners, the AG Office will participate in an educational forum on Tuesday, September 16 in Binghamton:

To educate landowners on the issue and ensure they are getting the best value for their land in a gas or oil exploration lease, representatives from the Attorney General’s Office will be taking part in a Landowners’ Rights Forum on September 16 in Binghamton with Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo and Field Advisory for the New York State Farm Bureau Lindsay Wickham. The Attorney General’s Office has conducted and is planning future similar forums throughout the state. …

The Landowners’ Rights Forum will take place September 16 at 7 p.m. at Broome Community College’s Baldwin Gymnasium on 907 Upper Front St. #1 in Binghamton. To RSVP, call 607-721-8771.

Click here for a map to that address.

I suppose the answer to that question lies partly in what you mean by a “bad” lease. The Press & Sun Bulletin recently reported on a meeting held in Hancock in which two lawyers discussed lease problems with some 150 concerned people.

The residents gathered at the high school to see whether they had legal grounds to renegotiate or void the contracts. Some of the landowners say they were pressured or lied to. For others, it may be simply a case of buyer remorse.

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It is illegal and unethical for landmen to use pressure tactics or lie to get landowners to sign leases.

The group that filed Thursday into the Hancock High School had some compelling information, including questionable leases the lawyers feel may not pass legal muster, Weber said.

More information is available on Weber’s Web site at www.cheapgaslease.com

For the record, I am not a lawyer, and it would be a mistake to take legal advice from me. But it’s my opinion that these lawyers are just shysters, seeing some upset and frustrated people and hoping to turn that into some quick clients.

These leases are legal documents (which is why we continually mention here that it’s critical to negotiate for what you really need). Once you sign the lease, you have made a legal commitment. Your later realization that you could have made a more advantageous deal is sad for you, but will not sway a judge’s opinion in court one iota. The article acknowledges this:

The burden of proof rests with landowners, who must present “clear and convincing evidence,” they were lied to, said Chris Denton, an Elmira lawyer specializing in mineral leases. That means more than a “he-said-she-said” argument.

Furthermore, it’s my understanding that the notarization irregularities that some allege will not invalidate the lease. They may interfere with recording the deed with the county, but don’t affect the agreement you’ve made with the oil company.

If you think that you’ve been taken advantage of by a gas company, don’t let your anger blind you into being taken advantage of by a lawyer! Before you throw out what good money you’ve got, make sure you’ve got a real argument that is supported by concrete proof.

An education seminar is being planned at Broome Community College on Wednesday, September 17. The Press & Sun-Bulletin reports on the event:

Broome landowners holding the keys to lucrative natural gas fields could lose out if they don’t know their rights. …

Mike Danaher, assistant attorney general in the Binghamton office, will offer advice that generally carries this theme: Don’t get pressured into making a deal you are unhappy with. It’s your property. … And above all, landowners should draw a lease that suits them, rather than accepting a lease that favors the energy company, he said.

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Danaher’s advice: “Negotiate, negotiate, negotiate … Don’t be blinded by the dollar signs.”

The seminar, sponsored by Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo, D-Endwell, also includes a presentation from Lindsay Wickham, an advocate who works for the New York State Farm Bureau. It is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in Baldwin Gymnasium.

Tomorrow is two-fer Tuesday. Both the Tioga Landowners Group and the Central Broome Landowners Association have meetings scheduled for Tuesday 8/12.

Broome:

Another meeting for NEW ENROLEES is being scheduled for Tuesday, August 12th at 7PM at the Cooperative Extension 840 Front St Binghamton. If you have any question feel free to email us at info@centralbroomeassociation.com or call 607-428-0471 and leave a message and someone will call you back as soon as they can. Current members need not attend this meeting as it will be duplicate information that they have already received.

Tioga:

An educational workshop hosted by the Tioga County Landsowners Group will be held on Tuesday, August 12th at 7:00pm – 9:30pm at the Tioga Central School auditorium.  Click here for a Google map and directions.

The agenda includes:

• First speaker (1 hour): Don Zaengle – Petroleum Geologist (out of Chris Denton’s Office) with a Masters in Geology and over 20 of experience
  • Exploration, development, and production of natural gas
  • Understanding of surface and and subsurface issues
• Second speaker (2nd hour): Chris Denton – widely respected as the most knowledgeable gas attorney in the Southern Tier

• Question and answer session (last half hour)

A forum is planned Tuesday August 19th at the Sullivan West High School in Lake Huntington.

Three Lake Huntington, New York government and public interest agencies have planned a natural gas drilling symposium on Aug. 19, at Sullivan West High School, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.

The meeting, organized by the Sullivan County planning division, the Chenango County Farm Bureau and Cornell Cooperative Extension, will focus on negotiating a gas lease that protects your property and financial interests.

Panelists for the symposium are Dr. William J. Pammer, Jr., Sullivan’s planning commissioner; Brad Vickers, president of the Chenango County Farm Bureau; Christopher Denton, an attorney who’s negotiated gas leases; Don Zaengle, a petroleum geologist; and Jim Leonard, a certified public accountant.

Registration is required. Call the county planning department at (845) 794-3000, ext. 5028, by no later than 4 p.m., Aug. 18.

Announcement thanks to Gas Leases blog.