CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE

Greevy said landowners thinking about signing leases should not be swept up in the excitement about the prospects of making money. They should do their homework first.

That includes specifying how many acres a company will use to drill on the land, calculating royalties and specifying in the agreement how they will rehabilitate the land after they are done drilling.

Greevy said lease agreements are generally impossible to battle in court once a landowner signs on the dotted line, unless it can be proven that the gas company intentionally broke a part of the agreement.

In the case of ag land, Greevy said it is important to set parameters as to how the company will handle issues, such as whether or not land is included in an ag preserve or whether land is enrolled in programs such as the Conservation Resource and Enhancement Program (CREP) and whether they must pay the government if they drill on that land.

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