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Groups organizing to deal with mineral rights offers
BY DAN EAKIN, Staff Writer
Two groups of Lewisville property owners are now being organized to deal with companies that want to drill for natural gas on several locations within the city limits.
Steve Southwell, who serves on a steering committee for a group calling itself the Southern Lewisville Gas Owners Association, said the group has already had two meetings at Willow Grove Park. He said about 150 people were in attendance at the first and 75 or more at the second. He said other meetings are planned.
Also, Lynette Haines said a group of residents in northern Lewisville are organizing, to be called the Summit Area Neighbors Association (SANA).
Southwell said Cherokee Horn has been making “lowball offers” in south Lewisville and that SANA is being organized in north Lewisville and has primarily been dealing with Williams Exploration and Production.
He said gas drilling companies have been offering property owners about $500 to sign on for a three-year lease for mineral rights “that are worth at least 10 times that much.”
He said the groups are being organized in order to advise people not to sign an agreement too soon for a low amount, and also to advise them about the consequences of having a gas well drilled near their property.
Patsy Crawford, another member of the steering committee, said she received an offer from Cherokee Horn to sign a lease agreement for $375 plus a $100 gas card.
“It was a ridiculous, silly offer,” she said. She said about 25 people, with an attorney, met in her back yard on Aug. 18. Flyers were distributed, resulting in the larger groups meeting later at Willow Grove Park.
Southwell, Crawford and others are distributing flyers that warn that dangers of allowing gas wells nearby can include leaks of unscented gas, fires, explosions or blowouts. Nuisances include noise, lights, truck traffic, odors, eyesores and pipeline easement condemnation. Also, the flyer claims that neighborhood drilling can result in pollution of air, soil and water.
“The neighbors are beginning to organize in order to ensure that we get paid, and that the environment is protected,” Southwell said.
Southwell said gas drilling companies are looking at sites behind the Wal-Mart on FM 3040, just east of Central Park and southeast of the Timber Creek neighborhood.
A gas drilling company would have to secure a permit from the Texas Railroad Commission and the city of Lewisville before drilling.
However, Southwell said, “They probably will not seek a permit until they’ve secured a majority of the mineral rights. When they do, they’ll have to get the permit from the Texas Railroad Commission first, then the city.”
Lewisville’s Oil and Gas Ordinance will not allow drilling within 800 feet of a residence, unless council approves a variance following a public hearing.
Southwell said he and other members of the steering committee are concerned that the gas drilling companies will request and be granted variances unless property owners show up at council meetings and persuade the council otherwise.
However, he also said some property owners may be in favor of such variances in order to be able to sign lease agreements with the companies.
Besides Southwell and Crawford, others on the steering committee of the Southern Lewisville Gas Owners Association are Michael Cross, Dan Manning and Jennifer Turner.
Southwell noted that the effort is totally bipartisan, with both Democrats and Republicans uniting in the effort to see that they get fair treatment from the gas drilling companies.
Southwell provides updated information about the organization at www.WhosPlayin.com
On SANA’s Web site, www.lewisvillegasowners.com, readers are told, “Neighborhoods across the Barnett Shale have proven that there is definitely power in numbers. They have negotiated signing bonuses between $17,000 and $30,000 per acre by uniting as a community. We want to do the same for our area.”
Drilling has been taking place in recent years in cities to the north and west of the Metroplex, because of a massive natural-gas bearing formation about two miles underground. The formation is known as the Barnett Shale. Interstate 35E is on its eastern edge.
The Barnett Shale is a large natural gas reserve encompassing more than 5,000 square miles and covering at least 17 counties in North Texas.
Contact Dan Eakin at 972-628-4075 or at deakin@acnpapers.com. Comment on this story at scntx.com.
The following are comments from the readers.
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
Angela Hartman wrote on Aug 27, 2008 4:47 PM:
" Hi Dan, actually, it is 450 acres that are leased. I don't have an exact count on the number of lease agreements signed. "
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