PLYMOUTH – Although Sean T. Campbell of Plymouth admits that he “may not be the smartest guy in the tool shed,” he said he has learned enough about the market for natural gas in the area to warn his neighbors about leasing their land to exploration companies.

“They manipulate words. They are trying to take advantage of people by not saying how deep they are going to drill, or where they are going to actually go on your property,” he said.

For that reason, Campbell plans to gather his neighbors in Plymouth, Pharsalia, Preston and Smyrna for a meeting to discuss appropriate pricing instead of accepting differing lease and royalty offers. “We will be stronger in numbers,” he said.

The landowner said a natural gas company first approached him six years ago, offering to lease his property at $3 an acre. The company later offered him $4, then $5, and finally $6 an acre. Some of his neighbors, he said, have already signed.