Is Natural Gas being Stored on Your Property Without Permission or Compensation?

Sever Walker Padgitt currently represents over fifty landowners who have had natural gas stored underground on their property without proper compensation.  Natural gas companies are required to acquire leases or easements before storing natural gas on your land.  According to our initial investigation, numerous landowners in your area have had natural gas stored on their property without proper easements and leases.

Sever Walker Padgitt is a law firm that has represented hundreds of landowners nationwide on eminent domain and land use issues. As mentioned above, our firm currently represents landowners in Pennsylvania that have had their property rights violated by companies storing natural gas without permission.  With these and other clients we operate under a contingency fee arrangement that insures our clients will only be charged attorney fees if we make a collection from the natural gas company.

A FAQ sheet is posted below with more about underground gas storage. There is also more detail about our firm and the work we do for landowners on our website at www.landownerattorneys.com.

If you would like to find out how to protect your property rights, or determine if you are entitled to compensation for past and future storage please contact our office for a free evaluation of your claim at 888-318-3761.

This is a rapidly evolving situation so don’t hesitate to act.

Natural Gas FAQ

Q: What is underground natural gas storage?

A: Energy companies extract so much natural gas out of the ground that they require massive amounts of stable space to store their excess gas. Energy companies will therefore often inject and store this excess gas for later use in underground caverns and aquifers. This type of underground gas storage has been going on for several decades across America, and it is the most common type of natural gas storage.

A: Geographically, because most underground gas storage takes place in the same reservoirs from which the gas was originally extracted, landowners will discover that underground gas storage often takes place in close proximity to existing natural gas extraction infrastructure–Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Illinois, Texas, and Indiana have high concentrations of gas storage fields.

A: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is charged with monitoring, regulating, and, if necessary, punishing energy companies and their gas storage fields. Energy companies must first seek FERC approval before establishing a gas storage field; however most gas storage fields are already in use and have existed for several years.

A: Because gas storage fields are between 1,000-5,000 feet underground, unless there is an injection well on your property, there is usually no visible evidence that would indicate a property is in a gas storage field. FERC and energy companies maintain maps of their gas storage fields, but this documentation can become very hard to come by.

A: NO. When gas storage fields are created, they are required by law to engage in good faith negotiation with landowners and if necessary, pursue eminent domain through federal courts to acquire the property right. More often than not, however, because of the “secret” nature of the fields, energy companies will either make an initial attempt at negotiation with the landowner or not contact the landowner at all. The company will then use the field regardless of the landowner’s response to the negotiation. They do this because they expect most landowners to never discover their trespass.

A: There are a few options available to an affected landowner. The landowner can pursue a trespass or inverse condemnation lawsuit against the energy company to recover back year’s “rent” from the energy company. A landowner could put him or herself at a more advantageous position against the energy company by forming a group and creating a class action lawsuit. Usually class action lawsuits leverage each landowner’s position against the company through the collective power of the group.

A: Sever Walker Padgitt operates on a contingency fee–meaning our attorneys don’t collect a fee unless they recover compensation for the landowner. This allows landowners to hire an attorney without coming of pocket.

Case Results

State: Indiana (Marion County)

Case Type: Road projects

Initial Offer: $46,160

Sever Walker Padgitt Result:

$2,400,000

State: Indiana (Johnson County)

Case Type: Road projects

Initial Offer: $301,200

Sever Walker Padgitt Result:

$3,800,000

State: Indiana (Vigo County)

Case Type: Road projects

Initial Offer: $1,186,000

Sever Walker Padgitt Result:

$4,475,000

State: Indiana (Hamilton County)

Case Type: Road projects

Initial Offer: $79,200

Sever Walker Padgitt Result:

$3,000,000

State: Georgia (Union County)

Case Type: Road projects

Initial Offer: $454,250

Sever Walker Padgitt Result:

$1,500,000

State: Illinois, Sangamon County

Case Type: Road projects

Initial Offer: $125,600

Sever Walker Padgitt Result:

$1,191,950

View All Case Results

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Before you go up against Illinois alone, let us give you our opinion. We pledge to provide a free case review for any individual or business facing eminent domain or condemnation. Contact us now at 888-318-3761.

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