By KATE MISHKIN
Charleston Gazette-Mail
(Gazette-Mail photo by Craig Hudson)
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Drilling companies should be granted greater authority to tap into West Virginia’s Marcellus Shale gas formation, including putting large operations on one person’s property to extract gas from tracts that could be a mile or more away, lawyers for energy giant EQT argued in front of the West Virginia Supreme Court on Tuesday.
“The mineral owner has the right to use the surface in any way reasonably necessary,” Nicolle Bagnell, a lawyer for Pittsburgh-based EQT Corp., argued.
In the case, Beth Crowder and David Wentz, who live on and own the surface of a 300-acre farm in Doddridge County, argue that EQT came onto their land without their permission to extract the gas from underneath adjacent properties. The minerals underneath are owned by the heirs of Joseph and Bell Carr, who entered into an agreement with EQT’s predecessor in 1901. Crowder and Wentz divorced in the early 2000s and live in separate homes on the property.
(Gazette-Mail photo by Craig Hudson)
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