You really should see a lawyer about this before you sign anything. You want to make sure the easement isn't too broad but very restricted when it's defined.

I don't know if you're in PA or NY State and if your gas pipeline has anything to do with Marcellus Shale, but there are myriad pollution issues with natural gas pumps. In Wilkes Barre, PA the water is so contaminated in some places it can be lit on fire. You might want to get your water tested to provide a baseline should you ever need to prove that it's been polluted. Air quality and wear and tear on roads with additional trucking traffic might also be valid issues. I agree with chickadeez - see a lawyer. I would also contact some of the environmental groups like environment working group, I bet they have experience with this.

And try to find other people who do have easements so you can determine the real truth.

Definitely a lawyer! Years ago, in our first house, we had several acres. We had a gas-line across our property but thankfully they never wanted to tap into it. Honestly, to me, I think it might be more of a bother that it would be worth.

tina

Negotiating compensation can be tricky. Some of our neighbors tried but they ended up hiring an attorney. They realized they needed a professional to handle it. We were contacted by Tennessee Gas because they wanted to run a 30" pipeline through our property at our vacation home in NE PA. It was to carry the gas recovered from fracking the Marcellus Shale.

Even though we refused to let them on our property they mailed us a map showing the location of the proposed line. They would have buried it 3 feet deep - but they required a clear cut right of way of 50 feet right through our forest for maintenance. They also planned on running it through our wetlands and cutting into a steep slope and then elevating it across a ditch.

Even though they maintain the right of way by keeping it clear of trees or shrubs as the property owner I would be liable if someone decided to joyride their ATV along the right of way. We felt it was a losing proposition for us.

We never got as far as talking compensation because we told them we'd never give permission. Luckily they decided to put the line elsewhere.

Just a bit of warning here, when you're dealing with a utility (sometimes they're a branch of the government), they have standard easements and you're probably not going to have much negotiation room. If it's deemed 'in the public interest' you may have even less wiggle room as it could be something where the piece of land in question can be condemned for eminent domain. That is not likely to happen in your case tho!

Utility easements and rights of way are not the same as an easement for a driveway or fence. I'd see what they say first and ask for the names of other landowners along the transmission line to see what they've done. I'd do that first before paying an attorney. Just don't sign anything!

Judith, this is a really big deal right now. Here in the PNW we've had years of fighting LNG companies who wanted to build pipelines to move gas to terminals on the coast so they could import LNG. But they were pretty much defeated by Oregon's tough natural resource laws. Now then the frac drilling in the US has created so much new gas suplies they're now trying to reopen the talks to be able to EXPORT gas to China & Japan.

The agency I work for is heavily involved in the regulations and I've heard all kinds of stories of the hinky dealings by these companies. No one wants the new pipelines!

But in Folks case, this is an existing line, and they're looking to add another connection. And Folk, I think you should make sure you see their proposal and see if there is any proposed impacts to the springs. If so, I'd demand either additional compensation for that, or require mitigation for the source.

pesky1, I've heard that in some cases homeowners have no choice because the mineral rights to the land beneath their homes can be owned by someone other than themselves and they might not even know it!

It's a big run to drill in PA. Our governor refuses to tax the profits on the natural gas companies like other states do, because he says it will scare them off. But yes, they are going to drill, export the products to developing industrial countries, and leave us in PA to clean up mess. The idea of taxing is that tax revenues will help pay for the additional regulatory staff needed to enforce laws to protect the cleanliness of our air and water, and if something goes wrong, like if our air or water are tainted by the chemicals they need to inject into the ground to extract the gas during fracking, tax revenues can help pay for clean up.

I don't believe the whole "the companies will police themselves" line that they're putting out at all. Look how well BP policed its drilling in the Gulf!

So back to the OP, do watch your back and make sure there are NO environmental impacts that could reduce your quality of life and the value of your property.

We owned a home in SE PA that had two natural gas lines buried on the far edge of a one acre lot. Our realtor said they were everywhere and no big deal. Well they turned in to a big deal. The pipeline decided to replace the pipes that had been there for years with larger pipes and needed more easement and they were a utility that could use eminent domain. We had huge beds of shrubs, trees and perennials that were destroyed and they changed the way water ran off our property in one area and could never get it fixed right again. They tell you everything will be put back like it was, but in our area they didn't follow through. We did have an attorney, but we still lost a lot. I would never sell an easement to a pipeline if I had a choice. They tell you what you want to hear until you sign on the dotted line. In your case, they probably can't use eminent domain, but I would be concerned about a gas leak ruining your spring. I think the suggestion to contact an environmental group and an attorney (if you want to pursue this) is smart.

folkvictorian - The companies obviously want to limit their costs. It's possible that there are other locations where they can tap into the line but perhaps you land is the easiest. Or they may have already been turned down by other homeowners and you're next on the contact list. Lizbeth's post reminded me that the Gas company that wanted to run the new line on our property was doing it as part of a project to replace and enlarge the old lines. They wanted our property because it would have been easier and cheaper for them to run a new line and then cap off the old one rather then replace the existing line they already had.

She is right when she says they promise everything and downplay any negatives. Four years ago the Susquehanna Power Company wanted to run high power lines on 200' towers through our property. These lines would carry electricity from the nuclear power plant in Berwick, PA to New Jersey and New York. No one in our town even gets electricity from this company.

They held a series of public meetings that were well planned out. When we entered the meeting room they had executives placed at tables all around the room to 'answer' our questions. They never spoke to the attendees as a group but kept all discourse to one to two people in a conversational tone. Rather smart on their part. That way no one in the audience could stand up and raise objections and galvanize the group. It took several months and many phone calls to find out that the towers would be 400' from my home and that I would be able to hear the constant 'hum' emitted from the lines. The towers would have run almost through the middle of my 135 acres.

And it's not over yet - while the power company and the state PUC have selected an alternative route which uses the existing utility right of way, the National Park Service is objecting - they don't want the power company to cross the Delaware River on park land even though the power lines are already there, they're just on shorter towers. What's ironic is that the park only exists because the Federal government wanted to build the Tocks Island Dam on the Delaware River in the 1950's. After acquiring thousands of acres and eradicating the town of Dingman's Ferry the whole thing was canceled and the Delaware Water Gap National park was created.

My examples are probably way more involved than what you're experiencing. I guess I relate them because it might help to know what can happen to the average landowner.

This is a fascinating discussion. I'm so impressed with the collective knowledge and experience on this board. Wow! You just never know what you're going to learn...when you're not decorating :)

Thank you, everyone, for your thoughtful answers. That's just what I wanted, different perspectives and ideas that we hadn't thought of, yet! Yes, we'll contact a real estate attorney to get it all ironed out.

Maire, you're right that the company wants to limit its costs. We're the most direct property and closest to the mine. The line crosses at a diagonal on our land. The folks who own the land across the road would be just as close, but the land is owned by several brothers/cousins/friends as a 600-acre hunting location and it's set up as an LLC. I'm sure the gas co. would rather work with a simple husband and wife (and I DO mean simple! LOL :) ) than an LLC. But if we say no, they'll move on to someone else or declare eminent domain or whatever. We'll see what transpires.

Thanks again for your kind and thoughtful replies! Stop by the house any time for a cup of coffee (or a gin & tonic?) and a chat!

Yes. Years ago and a different house; the town bought an easement on our property so they could replace our drainage ditch with curb and gutter. It was a nice chunk o' change and we gained yard...win-win! But I DID have a lawyer friend look it over to be certain we weren't doing something foolish. And then the town spent the whole summer digging on our street...and this is what my kids did:

Easiest summer I had when they were little guys.

Mjsee, that's adorable.

Thanks, Bumblebeez. It is one of my favorite photos of the kids...and one of the few times they SAT STILL. (The "ooooh shiny" runs strong in our family.)