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Hydraulic fracturing companies in Pennsylvania are pushing to enact a “pooling” law. If enforced, Pennsylvania property owners who live above the Marcellus shale, an underground rock formation rich with natural gas, would be forced to sell their underground natural gas rights to a drilling company if their neighbors agreed to do the same.
According to an article in Business Week, other states have approved pooling laws. The state authority determines how the holdout is to be compensated for the gas, Business Week said.
Residents who object to these laws are concerned that drillers abuse landowner rights and limit their ability to negotiate deals with the drilling companies.
At this moment, polling bills have yet to be introduced in the Pennsylvania legislature, but talks between state officials and the drilling industry are to be expected in the next few weeks.
The Marcellus shale lies under parts of West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and Maryland. Some parts of Pennsylvania have experienced a gas boom as a result of the drilling, but instances of water contamination and gas leaks have also been reported.
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