PROTECT LANDOWNER RIGHTS

April 20, 2015

The 1945 Oil and Gas Law makes forced pooling legal in North Carolina but the law does not say when or how forced pooling can happen!  So North Carolina landowners can’t be sure that their property rights will be protected at all. The North Carolina House of Representatives could begin debating House Bill 586 this week in the House Environment Committee, but ONLY IF WE URGE THEM TO DO SO!!  The bill would ban forced pooling in North Carolina and take additional steps to protect landowners from unwanted activity on their property.

It’s important that you contact your Representative by Wednesday noon to ask them to support House Bill 586! And contact House Environment Chairman Rick Catlin to ask him to schedule this bill for a hearing in Thursday’s Committee meeting!  You can also ask your own County Commission Chairman to contact Representatives to ask for their support. (Your County Commissioners’ contact info should be easy to find on line under your County government website.)

Important: Please don’t talk to your Representative about this bill as a way to prevent fracking—this would keep many Representatives from listening to you. Instead, emphasize the importance of this bill to protect landowner rights, by preventing companies from drilling on or under property of people who don’t want to lease the right to drill for gas or other resources.

The North Carolina General Assembly lifted the moratorium on fracking permits effective in March of 2015. Despite opening up North Carolina to fracking, the General Assembly has not yet cleared up the big uncertainty about forced pooling.

Passing House Bill 586 would solve the problem and ban forced pooling in North Carolina!