Re: Mineral Lease
Your latest info makes me believe even more strongly that you need to seek professional advice. I think you should ask about the representative hired by the HOA. Who is he/she, what are his/her credentials, expertise, etc. I would also want to know if that person has any ties to the industry, that might make him/her likely to be biased in favor of the folks you are negotiating with. This is sort of a difficult balance because anyone with the correct expertise is going to have industry connections, but obviously you want someone who will serve your collective interests, not those of the companies who want to drill on your land.
There are also some issues related to Hydraulic Fracture Drilling, which is also referred to as "fracking." I don't know that much about the method personally, but just did a bit of research. Basically what is done is to inject fluids, which typically contain a number of chemicals, into the formation under pressure. This can sometimes be as much as 350,000 gallons per well, and causes the formation to fracture, thus increasing permeability. In order to hold the fractured areas open, however, as much as 320,000 pounds of "proppants" are injected along with the fracturing fluids. In short, what you have injected into the ground is a toxic soup.
The problems with this are apparently two-fold. First, these fluids have been known to contaminate underground drinking water supplies. If your local sources of drinking water includes wells of any type, you should be very concerned about this. The second issue is containment and disposal of fracturing fluids that re brought back to the surface. Just to give you an idea of what is typically in this stuff, read the following:
Many fracturing fluids contain chemicals that can be toxic to humans and wildlife, and chemicals that are known to cause cancer. These include potentially toxic substances such as diesel fuel, which contains benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene, xylene, naphthalene and other chemicals; polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; methanol; formaldehyde; ethylene glycol; glycol ethers; hydrochloric acid; and sodium hydroxide.[7] Very small quantities of chemicals such as benzene, which causes cancer, are capable of contaminating millions of gallons of water.
Additionally, fracking is often done in conjunction with "acidizing," which is a method of disolving rock to open its pores. This process involves injecting acid (apparently hydrochloric acid most of the time) into the formation.
At a minimum, I would say that any agreement that you reach with these folks should contain very specific language in regard to what will be in the fluids used, and how the fluids will be contained and removed from the site.
One more bit of info that I will offer needs a preface, and that is that I am not providing it out of any political agenda but, rather, because it is apparently a fact.
In 1997 the EPA was ordered by a U.S. Circuit Court (11th District, Atlanta) to regulate Hydraulic Fracture Drilling, under the Safe Drinking Water Act. In 2000, the EPA began a study on the matter, and in 2001 VP **** Cheney convened a task force on energy policy which recommeded, among many other things, that hydraulic fracturing be exempted from the Safe Drinking Water Act. The EPA study was released in 2004 with a recommendation that "no further study of hydraulic fracturing was necessary." What you should know, however, is that there have been claims that political pressure was used get the EPA to remove information from the original draft, which would have resulted in a different conclusion. One EPA whistleblower called the study "scientifically unsound," and apparently felt that the review panel for the study was stacked with oil/gas industry people. His views were later supported by the EPA Inspector General, who recommeded a review of the whistleblower's claims. In spite of that recommendation, a 2005 national energy bill did, in fact, exempt hydraulic fracturing from the Safe Drinking Water Act.
My point in mentioning all of this information is not to take sides in regard to political party, etc. Instead, I think you and your fellow homeowners need to know that the exemption will probably get mentioned, as soon as you ask about environmental concerns. I doubt very much, however, that those who want to use this method on and under your property, will tell you of the level of controversy involved. They are much more likely to want to blow it off by telling you that the matter has been studied and that there is no danger.
I am also not saying that Hydraulic Fracture Drilling can not be employed safely. I would just want to know how that can be accomplished (from someone other than the people who want to drill), and would want some contractual safeguards in place. On top of that, I would want some major insurance in place which covered not only the company involved, but also the homeowners.
PS: For Aspeck, you should be aware of this too, because fracturing is apparently a very common practice, when companies want to extract gas from coal seams.
