Fracking for oil

Joy_Burgess-Ramsey · August 2, 2012, 5:52pm

I live in Williamson County, IL. The shale is in the New Albany site. We own 44 acres. The Oil Co. has sent a letter to us & then an agent who is responsible for getting leases signed came by our house. We own our oil & gas rights, but according to an employee of lllinois Dept. of Natural Resources, they will "make us sign a lease". The Company is Keyrock Energy, Kingsport, TN. We do not want to sign a lease. Under "forced integration" according to Kendra Brockamp at IL DNR & Doug Shutt, who is above her, they would force us to sign. I told Kendra they could just send a 64 yr. old woman to jail first, that would be great PR for them.

Our State Rep. John Bradley just says "It's jobs", even though probably very temporary ones. We are suppose to forget about the daily truck traffic that would result of water trucks shipping in the millions of gallons of water necessary to frack. The pollution of our land & water aquifer and the wildlife that would die. Sometimes it takes the well casing years to crack, but when it does, all that poison is released into the area.

We really don't know what to do first. Our situation is complicated because the Mach Mine will longwall under our house in 5-6 years. We are thinking to just sell everything except the mineral rights to them & find a new location. I could cope with just rebuilding, but not living with these chemicals poured into our land & the unknown damage that would probably produce. Help.

r_w_kennedy · August 2, 2012, 6:06pm

Joy, the state probably will be no help. The state person may tell you it's jobs, but that isn't what the state is primarily interested in, taxes are what the state is interested in, they collect a mint from oil companies and mineral owner alike.

Joy_Burgess-Ramsey · August 2, 2012, 6:24pm

Thank you so much for your reply. I've already learned something I hadn't thought about. I accepted his answer at face value. Of course, the revenue from taxes, makes sense.

r w kennedy said:

Joy, the state probably will be no help. The state person may tell you it's jobs, but that isn't what the state is primarily interested in, taxes are what the state is interested in, they collect a mint from oil companies and mineral owner alike.

Eastern_MT · August 2, 2012, 8:04pm

Joy, for your peace of mind it would probably be best for you to sell. While several of your fears are unfounded, oil and gas exploration will dramatically increase the traffic and activity around you. That fact coupled with the pending coal mining activity you mentioned would be real incentive to relocate. Good luck with your decision.

Buddy_Cotten · August 3, 2012, 2:33am

Dear Joy,

You have totally exposed the horrors of forced pooling. That is essentially a non-issue in Texas. Texas is a rule of capture state and if have 40 acres you can have a well.

It is my belief that the minerals are yours and you are free to do with them as you wish. However, your state does not see it that way.

If it were me, I would wait until the very last moment, negotiate the best bonus, royalty and term and stipulate that no surface operations can be conducted on your lands or within 600 feet of your boundary line.

As far as wildlife dying, it has not happened in Texas. The drought kills more deer than the oil industry. Those wind farms slaughter birds. Come down to Texas. We will welcome you here and if you have the minerals, you can shoot anybody who comes on your property. Oh, and you will save a lot on winter clothes. The heaviest thing that I wore last year was a windbreaker!

oldoak · August 3, 2012, 7:04pm

Wildlife BENEFITS, like never before, when landowners allocate a small portion of their oil/gas proceeds towards bettering their habitat, right there on YOUR property.

More than just 'jobs', abundant low-cost energy fuels an entire economy and advanced civilization - one that both feeds AND educates its citizens, provides for a long & comfortable life, and opportunity for advancement for those who aspire to work for it. Even music and arts benefit, when the basics are so easily 'covered'.

'Fracking' has been being used for more than 30 years, and way more water is polluted every year by millions of tons of fertilizer being used to grow corn for ethanol - search the facts yourself!

Oil & gas, in their natural form, have been seeping out of the ground (and into our oceans & atmosphere) for millions of years, in yearly amounts that dwarf all of our 'accidental' spills ever put together. They are no more poisionous coming from a well -where they are at least efficiently captured and put to good use. Furthermore, once they've been removed from deep, they no longer pose a 'risk' of escaping, on their own, into our environment.

Our civilization, at least here in the good ol' USA, has progressed tremendously by utilization of ALL of it's natural resources, especially oil&gas, in a MARKET DRIVEN economy - to the benefit of ALL, including those in other countries. Sure, you can put on a burka, go live in a cave, and deny all of this, but wouldnt' you rather have a positive part in putting a smile on some poor shivering & starving child (or a few hundred?).

So you see, you can do A LOT with 'your oil and gas' (be part of the SOLUTION) , or simply choose to do nothing at all . . . . . . .

Joy_Burgess-Ramsey · June 29, 2013, 3:59pm

Listen Oldoak, I just didn't fall off the turnip truck. The fracking industry uses over 600 dangerous, cancerous chemicals to frack their oil & gas. These chemicals can be spilled on the surface & pollute our aquifers forever. The well casings on these rigs are concrete. Just a crack, and we have a leak. So just a little more pollution isn't going to hurt, you think? Just consider me NOT a part of your solution.

They waste 4-7 million gallons of water per FRACK, and can frack 1 well 18 TIMES!! What a waste of our precious resource. Former U.S. Senator Paul Simon said that we would experience Water Wars someday. Maybe this will make it happen even sooner.

Where do we live after we pollute our home?

oldoak said:

Wildlife BENEFITS, like never before, when landowners allocate a small portion of their oil/gas proceeds towards bettering their habitat, right there on YOUR property.
More than just 'jobs', abundant low-cost energy fuels an entire economy and advanced civilization - one that both feeds AND educates its citizens, provides for a long & comfortable life, and opportunity for advancement for those who aspire to work for it. Even music and arts benefit, when the basics are so easily 'covered'.
'Fracking' has been being used for more than 30 years, and way more water is polluted every year by millions of tons of fertilizer being used to grow corn for ethanol - search the facts yourself!
Oil & gas, in their natural form, have been seeping out of the ground (and into our oceans & atmosphere) for millions of years, in yearly amounts that dwarf all of our 'accidental' spills ever put together. They are no more poisionous coming from a well -where they are at least efficiently captured and put to good use. Furthermore, once they've been removed from deep, they no longer pose a 'risk' of escaping, on their own, into our environment.
Our civilization, at least here in the good ol' USA, has progressed tremendously by utilization of ALL of it's natural resources, especially oil&gas, in a MARKET DRIVEN economy - to the benefit of ALL, including those in other countries. Sure, you can put on a burka, go live in a cave, and deny all of this, but wouldnt' you rather have a positive part in putting a smile on some poor shivering & starving child (or a few hundred?).
So you see, you can do A LOT with 'your oil and gas' (be part of the SOLUTION) , or simply choose to do nothing at all . . . . . . .