Switchboard: New research: more than half of landowners report problems with shale gas development on their land
Earlier this year, researchers from West Virginia University surveyed West Virginia land owners with shale wells on their property. They surveyed a sample of 481 landowners with a total of 680 wells on their properties (some had more than one). The survey asked about the use of the land prior to drilling, type of drilling, type of agreement, overall satisfaction with outcome, problems encountered, and other factors. The survey response rate was 43%. Of those who responsed, 61.5% were split estate landowners and 38.5% owned some or all of the minerals beneath their land.
This is an extremely important report. It is a technical survey with logistic regression models and other statistical analysis. Here are the basic findings I found most noteworthy:
- More than half of the respondents--57.4%--reported problems.
- 73% of respondents with horizontal wells reported problems compared to 46.5% of respondents with only conventional or vertically fractured wells.
- The biggest overall complaint was damage to the land.
- The average number of problems reported by respondents reporting at least one problem was 6!
- Common problems reported were declines in property values, truck traffic, lack of cooperation by the oil and gas company, inadequate compensation, and road damages.
- 60% of split estate surface owners are dissatisfied.
- 28% of surface/mineral owners are dissatisfied.