This article originally provided by WV Metro News

August 22, 2007

Ripped Off

Property owners in West Virginia are emotional about oil and natural gas discovered on their properties. They made pleas to state lawmakers Tuesday to kill the governor’s bill focusing on royalties for property owners.

The governor says adoption of his plan would clear up questions about royalties and repeal tax exemptions that are currently in place when it comes to coal bed methane.

Environmentalist Norm Steenstra called the bill an utter disaster during Tuesday’s public hearing in the House Chambers.

"What a can of worms this bill opens up,” he said. Other speakers expressed similar comments.

Many lawmakers said the legislation was too complicated and too contentious to deal with during the 3-day session that wraps up Tuesday evening. The Manchin administration admitted defeat by Tuesday evening.

Boone County resident Karen Roberts says she has several natural gas wells on her property. She testified the gas companies say the property owners are making big money off of the wells, but it’s not true.

“They have been ripping us off for years. My husband is buried in sight of an oil well and yet we had to get charity to bury him,” Roberts said.

Fellow Boone County resident Leon Hager agreed with Roberts. He testified the proof is in the check he receives from the natural gas company.

"I drew a receipt from the gas company on one well. The owner’s value was around $15,000. I drew 86-cents,” Hager said.

Landowners claim the gas companies spend the profits to market, transport and distribute the product. They also allege the money is spent on costs not shared.

But Nick Preservatti, with the West Virginia Coal Assoc., who's backing the natural gas industry, says most of the bill will benefit the state, creating a better economy and putting more American drilled fuel on the market. He says they can do that if they're allowed to dig deeper natural gas wells.

"We would limit the number of roads, limit the number of pollution, limit the number of wells by passing this small provision of the bill,” Preservatti said.

After the public had their turn to address the committee, lawmakers had a chance to ask questions. But the one company they wanted to speak with wasn’t there. No one from Chesapeake Energy, who has been at the center of the bill or from the oil and natural gas industry were in the House Chambers to answer the questions.

The absence didn’t go down well with House committee member, Nancy Peoples Guthrie who feels the legislation is too complicated and tied into the $405-million lawsuit won by 10,000 Roane County landowners over Chesapeake Energy -- a case that has yet to be fully adjudicated.

"Did anyone even contemplate that we could be looking at another lawsuit because we're overreaching the judicial branch of the government without the judicial branch finally speaking,” the delegate asked.