For immediate release
Wednesday, April 7, 2004
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DURANGO, CO -- Private landowners have many legal remedies to protect themselves from the damages caused by oil and gas development, though the deck is stacked against them, according to a new guidebook released today by a national energy industry watchdog group.

Oil and Gas at Your Door? A Landowner’s Guide to Oil and Gas Development, published by the Durango, CO-based Oil & Gas Accountability Project, offers details on the fossil-fuels development process and how it can affect private property owners who do not own the minerals beneath their land -- also known as “split estate” lands.

Bill Garland, a Wyoming rancher in Pavillion, says, "The split estate landowners in the west are beginning to organize to protect our property and way of life from the streamlining development of oil and gas by our government and the industry. Oil and Gas at Your Door? is a new tool to inform and help those of us being devastated by the rush of oil and gas operators to reap huge profit before demand for natural gas shifts to other forms of energy."

“A visit from an oil or gas company land man can be an intimidating experience if you have no prior involvement with the oil and gas industry,” says Tweeti Blancett, an Aztec, NM rancher who has fought to protect her land from drilling operations and polluted runoff. “Most landowners do not have the legal or technical background to know what rights they have, what levels of compensation they can demand, and what sorts of impacts oil and gas development might have on their lives and livelihoods,” she says.

Throughout the U.S., oil and gas development is occurring at an accelerated pace. In many regions, the construction of new pipelines, well pads, access roads, waste pits and compressor stations directly conflicts with traditional land use activities such as ranching, farming, recreation, hunting and fishing. Landowners from Alabama to Wyoming have seen their quality of life impacted by the oil and gas industry.

Oil and Gas at Your Door? contains information on the technical steps involved in oil, gas and coalbed methane development; potential impacts associated with development, such as drinking water contamination and industrial noise; background on laws and legal decisions that provide protections for landowners; a sample surface-use agreement; and stories from landowners across the country who have first-hand experience with oil and gas development.

Copies of the guide are available in both hard copy and electronic formats. Call or email the Oil and Gas Accountability Project (970-259-3353 or lisa@ogap.org) or visit www.ogap.org.

The Oil & Gas Accountability Project works with communities across the United States and Canada to prevent and reduce the problems caused by oil and gas development.