SB 508 Eliminates Laws That Ensure You Can Feel Safe and Enjoy Your Home

February 15, 2016

Action Needed to Stop SB 508: Bill Eliminates Laws That Ensure You Can Feel Safe and Enjoy Your Home

Last week we told you about SB 508, a bill that would take away citizens’ ability to bring “nuisance” suits against against oil and gas drillers or others who engage in activities that harm their property values or interfere with the enjoyment and use of their property. If SB 508 passed, property owners would be left with no legal recourse to hold irresponsible neighbors accountable for their actions.

On Friday, the bill was taken up by the Senate Judiciary Committee. During the committee meeting, members heard from Ritchie County landowner Jim Shreves about what it is like to live in an area of the state that is the heart of Marcellus Shale gas drilling. Jim, who is one of the hundreds of West Virginia residents who have filed nuisance suits against the oil and gas drillers, told the committee, “I couldn’t give my property away.”

After traveling to Charleston with others from Ritchie and Doddridge counties to meet with legislators and share what they have endured since the drilling began, Jim sent a note to several folks urging them to continue fighting against this terrible bill.  Jim asks folks to:

Please continue to call, email and use social media to oppose this bill. If you’ve been personally affected, please share your story. Your stories matter!!!

1) Keep calling your legislators and urge them to vote no on SB 508;
2) Cut and paste the link below to your friends and family and urge them to take action on this horrible piece of legislation;
3) Get on Facebook and like the posts opposing SB 508 (see below);
4) If your affected, we may need you to come to Charleston on short notice. If this bill passes the Senate we will need people to come and testify before the House of Delegates.

Here is the link to the WV Association for Justice (WVAJ) Facebook page with information on SB 508. Like it!

WVAJ has also created a page to easily to contact your legislators again and urge them to vote NO on SB 508.

Again, please, share these links with your friends, family, neighbors, and fellow West Virginians.

Here is our WV-SORO’s action alert on SB 508.

After some discussion on Friday, the bill was sent to a subcommittee for further consideration. The subcommittee, which is scheduled to meet on Tuesday, will make recommendations to the full Judiciary Committee as to what should happen with the bill.

Keep an eye out for more information on this bill later this week.