NEW BERLIN – Landowners wanting to learn more about pipeline easements may do so at a meeting of the Central New York Landowners Coalition tomorrow.
The coalition will sponsor two speakers proficient on the subject of easements from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Unadilla Valley Central School’s auditorium in New Berlin. The school is located on 4238 State Highway 8.
Formed in the spring last year, the land group represents nearly 140,000 acres in Chenango, Otsego and Madison and Delaware counties. It is one of several formed in the region in response to natural gas company interest in the abundant layers of the energy that lies within the Marcellus, Herkimer and Utica formations under the subsurface.
Oxford Land Group president Bryant LaTourette is one of the two speakers. He will speak on Norse Energy Inc.’s proposed transportation pipeline, where it is, where it is going, its importance in the region and the dangers of signing right-of-ways.
Construction has already started by Norse’s local affiliate, Nornew, Inc., and will be carried out over the next year. Nornew has obtained easements and is actively seeking county approval for permits to run pipeline under county roads. The townships that will see immediate impact are Smyrna, Plymouth, Preston, Oxford, Coventry, Afton, Colesville, Windsor.
“While this is positive news on the gas front, it could have long-lasting adverse effects on your land once you sign/grant an easement if not handled properly,” said Coalition President Richard Lasky.
Jeff Denkenberger, regional office manager, Forecon, Inc., will speak about negotiating leases. Forecon is a multi-disciplinary forestry and natural resources company started in Jamestown in 1954. It now has eight offices located throughout New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Michigan. Forecon has been dealing with the oil and gas industry since the 1970s in western New York and northwestern Pennsylvania.
“We have years of experience dealing with oil and gas companies in negotiating leases, laying out roads and well locations, and making sure that properties are left in a environmentally sound condition both during and after operations occur. Proper planning is the key to making sure your property is left in the condition you desire,” said Denkenberger, who has been a forester at Forecon for more than three years. He currently manages the Cortland and Hancock offices, overseeing in excess of 25,000 acres of Timber Investment Management Organization lands along with more than 14,000 acres of private landowners properties in New York and Pennsylvania.
“We want to thank you all for your wonderful support of our organization which becomes stronger each week due to all of you and our solidarity,” said Lasky in a newsletter to members this month. “We are still picking up acreage on a daily basis and have filled in many spaces so that there are blocks of land, many of which surround the oil companies. This is a far cry from when we started and each of us was alone facing this giant alone.
“Many people have signed and I receive on the average of three phone calls a day asking me to try to get them out of the lease. Of course, this is not possible as the document that they signed is binding and there is no going back. In this regard, we need to make sure that the lease that we sign is 100 percent on the money. Once signed, it is there for always.”
The steering committee is currently in the process of revising the lease that has been submitted by its legal counsel.
Members of the landgroup’s steering committee are: Lasky, Todd Barnes, Garth Battista, Daniel Brooks, Brian Conover, Wilma Gorrell, John Haltner, Charles Rowe, Abbie Tamber, Hank Tumilowicz, Robert Tumilowicz and Kern Walling.