"Let the buyer beware" Especially if there's Fracking going on - Caveat emptor

Caveat emptor is Latin for "Let the buyer beware" Generally, caveat emptor is the contract law principle that controls the sale of real property after the date of closing,

Most people going house shopping start off their list with the usual; number of bedrooms, extra bath facilities, garage, total floor space and a few other items that helps them "price" their potential new home. Not enough people look into the environmental threats that can make or break a house's worthiness for the price.

The potential for disaster from flooding and pollution are often not even considered as they're not as immediately obvious. Current research sparked by new energy seeking procedures like fracking for oil and gas are now being shown to have an incredible impact on a properties value, rendering some worthless after an accident by oil and gas workers.

>>> Full Story <<<

Latest Report of the Impacts of Shale Gas Development on the Housing Market

from an article by Marcellus Monthly: a project of the Thomas Merton Center

A new study of property values by Resources For the Future (RFF.org) quantifies what many skeptics knew in their bones: An unconventional gas lease is often just a first step toward giving up the property entirely, with or without financial compensation. The study of 1+ million home sales, over a 7-year period, finds that property values fall in proximity to nearby gas wells.

Even properties with producing wells, whose values reflect the expected streams of royalties, don’t maintain a price premium for long. (The study covered only single-family homes, so any effects of drilling on farming or on other uses of the property weren’t considered.) These findings complement anecdotal evidence and legal filings, which tell of fast production declines, short-changing on royalty payments, cancellations of homeowner insurance, and denial of mortgage loans to would-be buyers.

PA Supreme Court Strikes Down Major Portions of Shale Drilling Law

From an article by Don Hopey, Pittsburgh Post Gazette

Pennsylvania Supreme Court declared major provisions of the state’s Marcellus Shale drilling law, Act 13, unconstitutional Thursday, including one that allows gas companies to drill anywhere, overriding local zoning laws.

Wheeling Jesuit University Professor Ben Stout to testify on GreenHunter plant at WV Capitol Tuesday, Nov. 19th

Opposing views on the controversial proposed GreenHunter frackwater recycling and barge offloading facility near Wheeling will be presented at the West Virginia Legislature on Tuesday Nov. 19^th.

Dr. Ben Stout, biology professor at Wheeling Jesuit University will testify before the Joint Legislative Oversight Commission on State Water Resources. On the agenda is “Handling and Disposing of Hydraulic Fracturing Fluids”.   John Jack, Vice President, GreenHunter Resources will testify prior to Dr. Stout. DATE Nov. 19, 2013, Tuesday TIME: 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. LOCATION: House Government Organization Committee Room, located on the second floor of the East Wing (House of Delegates side of capitol) COMMISSION CO-CHAIRS:  Senator John Unger Delegate Mike Manypenny      Professor Stout has been a vocal opponent of the project.

"Fracking Sites" pose a high risk of injuries from explosions!

West Virginia sits over the Marcellus Shale, a massive, ancient sediment mass that stretches under the surface of seven states. Obviously, the business of drilling for gas is inherently dangerous because of the risk of burns and other injuries from explosion and fire, but officials are also concerned about workers being exposed to dangerous chemicals.

>>> Full Story <<<

A fracking accident by Exxon results in negative environmental effects

by Toby Forstater The TEMPLE News

XTO Energy Inc., a subsidiary of the gas giant Exxon Mobil Corp., has recently been fined $100,000 for criminal violations and is forced to clean up a 2010 wastewater spill caused by hydraulic fracking in Lycoming County, Pa. Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane’s office announced  Sept. 10 that the company will be prosecuted.

XTO is subject to three criminal counts under the Solid Waste Management Act and five counts of violating the Clean Streams Law.

Fracking Boom Gives Banks Mortgage Headaches

From an article in American Banker by Andy Peters

An East Coast oil boom has promised potential riches to lucky landowners. But the oil rush may cause big headaches for some unlucky banks.

At least three institutions — Tompkins Financial (TMP) in Ithaca, N.Y., Spain's Santander Bank and State Employees' Credit Union in Raleigh, N.C. — are refusing to make mortgages on land where oil or gas rights have been sold to an energy company.

W.Va. AG, eight others file amicus brief in U.S. SC opposing cross-state air pollution regulations

By JESSICA M. KARMASEK

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (Legal Newsline) — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced Thursday that he and eight other state attorneys general have filed a brief in the U.S. Supreme Court opposing the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s new rule on cross-state air pollution.

Morrisey is leading the bipartisan group in authoring the brief. He noted that it is the first time — he believes — in two decades that a West Virginia attorney general has taken the lead in authoring a brief in the nation’s high court involving the EPA.

Fracking Activist Silenced for Doing EPA's Work

Vera Scroggins, a retired real estate agent and nurse's aide, was in Common Pleas Court for Susquehanna County, Pa., to explain why a temporary injunction should not be issued against her.

Before her were four lawyers and several employees of Cabot Gas and Oil, who accused her of trespassing and causing irreparable harm to the company that had almost $1 billion in revenue in 2012. They didn't want her on their property they owned or leased in the Marcellus Shale.

Fracking Company Sent Packing After Officials Tour West Virginia and Doddridge County in Particular

By Jane Mundy

Rockingham County, VA: Rockingham County had a problem. A hydro-fracking company had leased a swath of land. Residents were concerned that fracking for natural gas in their backyards would jeopardize their health, their water and land, and the local infrastructure. But the community rallied together and sent the oil and gas company packing.

How did they do it? Education is key, according to Chris Bolgiano, who refers to herself as a “mildly amusing nature writer.” She says that Carrizo, the oil and gas company that came to the area with a 2010 permit application to drill a natural gas well in Bergton, originally intended to drill in a small, pastoral area of the county.

“There had been gas drilling in these parts since 1935 and people thought they knew what gas drilling was all about,” says Chris, “so lots of people signed leases that allowed companies to drill on their land. These people thought a drilling rig would come in then pipe or truck the gas away. You could simply plant a tree in front of the well head and it wouldn't be seen. But times change.