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Surface Owner Rights Is it really right? We all know Doddridge County is rich in oil and gas. Most of us either have family that in the industry or have close ties with someone who does. This is a field that has long been of interests to me for a few reasons. The first is that I know some day my brother and I will inherit oil and gas interest and we’ll need to have some idea of how things work. The second reason is that I’ve never been able to understand how one piece of earth can be divided between two or three types of owners. It’s really a matter of sharing something that shouldn’t be shared at all. Take for example two people tried to share an ice-cream popsicle. You know what I mean the ones that are vanilla on the inside and covered in a hard chocolate covered shell. Now to complicate the mater let’s add nuts into the shell. You want only the chocolate and another person wants only the vanilla ice cream while all another person wants is the nuts. Sharing with the person who want’s the ice cream is all well and good or at least it seem simple enough but he want’s his ice cream before it melts so he wants to go first and he rips open the shell and when he’s done all that’s left is a mess. Then the person who wants the nuts comes in and destroys the rest. All you are left with is a big pile of melting mess that you might be able to lick some happiness out of. Okay, yes I know it sounds like I’ve had some odd dreams lately, but no really switch it around in your head a minute. The ice cream in the middle is coal, oil, and gas. The chocolate is the surface land, and the nuts are the trees. As we all know in West Virginia each of those things can be owned separately. So far the person with the least to gain and the most to loose in the matter is the surface owner. Generally they make little to no money and are always stuck with the end result weather they like it or not. I know I would be absolutely crazy to suggest that mineral rights shouldn’t be held separate from land. However, even seeing both sides of the issue, I don’t see how it is fair to stick land owners with a well they have little to no choice about. Being interested I looked up surface owner rights in the WV code. It was very difficult to understand what it said or meant to say about surface owner rights so I googled it. I found a very helpful resource called The Surface Owners’ Guide to Oil and Gas by David B. McMahon and a couple of law students from WVU. The first piece of advice he gives is to read chapter 2 and 3 in the guide if you have recently been served with a notice of pending permit. He makes it clear that you have only 15days from the time served to make a comment. His writing is very clear and concise and I know this seems a lot like a book report, but let’s face it I’m not a lawyer. I have no intention of ever being one so the best I can do is some up what he said and direct you to his guide which is absolutely free on the internet for download. He goes on to tell you that if you never received notice and all of the sudden there is a well being drilled on land that you own then you should seek legal council immediately because a very big law has been broken. I know that in Doddridge County these are things most people will know but just incase. I find it hard to believe that there would be a drilling company that underhanded as to not inform the property owners. I know a few drillers and count them good people. More than likely they will be willing to work with you as a surface owner. The goal should be to make the best of what could other wise be a bad situation. It is my hope all drillers are this way but we all know there are bad eggs in every batch life has. If you are dealing with one of life’s bad eggs then you should read this guide. I believe it should be on every surface owners’ reading list especially if they are in West Virginia. Mr. Mc Mahon mikes it clear early on that there is little to be done to stop a well from being drilled. He focuses more on the way to me the impact to your land as minimal as possible. If I understand correctly, surface owner rights are laid out in the deed of severance. This is the deed that first separated the surface land from the mineral rights. If a surface owner has any special right (usually free gas) it comes from here. After that after that in my opinion you should run you own deed search (that means you go to the court house and trace you deed back from your deed to the deed of severance). This way you know exactly what your rights are and who you are dealing with as far as the mineral rights are concerned. Once you know that then you need to make sure you know your rights according to the state law. I’m not qualified to give legal explanation or interpretations so the best advice I can give anyone in need of advice is to read the guide I’ve be shouting about. The bottom line to me is that in this state if your mineral rights were severed before June 1, 1983 then your rights as a surface owner are not considered as important as the rights of a mineral owner. If your mineral rights were severed before that time but recently sold, you should read this guide (yes I know I’m a broken record). It has an interesting view point of your rights at that point, but that would have to be argued in a court case. If your mineral rights were severed after 1983, by some miracle, then you are consider to have equal rights to the mineral owners. Good news for you but that probably won’t keep the drilling from occurring. Mr. McMahon also mentions damages in his guide and he makes a couple things very clear. First, you are entitled to monetary reimbursement for damages done to your property. Secondly, YOU DO NOT AGREE TO DAMAGES UNTIL AFTER YOU HAVE SEEN THE DAMAGE! In other words don’t let a company try to use damages as a way to negotiate drilling. You really should not sign anything that has a set amount of money for the cost of damages done to your property. I’ve always thought the separation of our surface rights from our mineral rights was a very great injustice allowed by this state. While it’s too late to fix it, it is not to late to protect yourself as much as possible from getting ripped off. If you seek to know more please read this guide. You can find it online at www.wvcag.org/oil_gas_guide/ .
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