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- About WVSORO
  
  Educating you about the rights that you have.
  Working to get you the rights you deserve.
  
  The WV Surface Owners’ Rights Organization (WVSORO) is a statewide membership organization formed in 2007 by concerned landowners, public interest lawyer Dave McMahon and WV Citizen Action Group. We serve as resource for our members and others who are looking for information and guidance on how to deal with oil and gas related activities on their land and in their communities. We also advocate for public policy and regulatory changes that will help surface owners have their rights recognized and respected by the oil and gas drillers and that will help them protect their land, air and water.
  
  Join Us! Click here to print a membership form or e-mail info@wvsoro.org to have a membership packet mailed to you.
  
  Contact us to help us help you educate your legislators about the need to implement the recommendations of the Horizontal Well Act studies and other protections for surface owners. Your personal stories will help make the case for the public policy and regulatory changes needed to protect your land, air and water.
  
  Partial Funding by The Dunn Foundation.

Advice for Common Situations and Updates to the Guide

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West Virginia Surface Owners’ Guide to Oil and Gas Summary and Updates
Enacting Local City or County Ordinances
Seismic and Geophysical
Water
Pipelines
Leasing / Amendments
Pore space/carbon sequestration offers
The Provisions Needed by Surface Owners In Surface Use Agreements
Partition Suits and Threats Thereof
Gas Leaks
Free Gas
Buying Land
Selling Land / Mineral Rights
Selling land / Surface Owners
Getting to own the oil/gas/minerals under your surface land
Abandoned wells
Going on Land Where There is Drilling Activity
Floodplains
Noise
Coal Bed Methane
Pads and other disturbance next door to you. What to do. Nuisance
Farmland preservation – even if you do not own oil and gas minerals

Useful Information

What should I do?

Advice for common situations and updates to Surface Owner's Guide
You can refuse or block a horizontal well on your land
If there is a proposal to plug an oil or gas well on your land, what should you do?
Should surface owners sign pore space lease etc. papers? If so, how much money should you get?

Resources

West Virginia Surface Owners' Guide to Oil and Gas
Erosion and Sediment Control Manual (that drillers must follow)
Reporting Violations: Information on Filing a Complaint with the WV DEP Office of Oil & Gas or the EPA
Why an old well is plugged, not “capped”; and how a well is supposed to be plugged; and why a lot of oversight of well pluggers is needed.
Latest on leasing, forced pooling, amendments/ratifications and cotenancy
How a Gas Well Is Drilled Down Into the Ground, and What Can Go Wrong
What a depleted oil or gas well should look like after it is plugged
Lawyers, experts, tax and mineral management advice, and water testers
State Office of Oil and Gas
Information on the Marcellus Shale
More Helpful Links and How To Find Information On Particular Gas Wells

Shared Experiences

Marcellus Shale Play well examples
Photo slide show for drilling of small shallow well.
Bad Examples!
Surface Owner Stories

Mineral Owner Info

Leasing/Royalty info

Advice and Updates

West Virginia Surface Owners' Guide to Oil and Gas Summary and Updates
Enacting Local City or County Ordinances
Seismic and Geophysical
Water
Pipelines
Leasing / Amendments
Pore space/carbon sequestration offers
The Provisions Needed by Surface Owners In Surface Use Agreements
Partition Suits and Threats Thereof
Gas Leaks
Free Gas
Buying Land
Selling Land / Mineral Rights
Selling land / Surface Owners
Getting to own the oil/gas/minerals under your surface land
Abandoned wells
Going on Land Where There is Drilling Activity
Floodplains
Noise
Coal Bed Methane
Pads and other disturbance next door to you. What to do. Nuisance
Farmland preservation - even if you do not own oil and gas minerals

Issue Cloud

Abandoned wells Aboveground tanks Coal bed methane DEP DNR Drilling waste Eminent domain EPA Fence-line monitoring Floodplains Fracking Green completion drilling Horizontal wells Land re-union Land use Leasing Legislation Marcellus shale Methane Minerals-Royalties newsletter Noise Nuisance suits Oil and Gas Orphaned wells Partition suits Pipelines Pollution Pooling Pore space Reclamation fund Roads Rural industrialization Seismic testing Siltation Tax sales Water Well pads Well Spacing

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