'Pooling' for Gas Irks Armstrong County Residents
1 min readLandowners say ‘pooling’ equates to grabbing their land for purposes they don’t agree with
Opponents say ‘pooling’ being used to intimidate landowners and lower their lease bargaining power.
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Kris Sotos is concerned that her South Buffalo Township property could be in jeopardy if a bill requiring her to allow natural gas drilling on her land becomes law.
“That amounts to grabbing my land for purposes that I don’t agree with,” she said.
State Rep. Jeff Pyle, R-Ford City, said more people in Armstrong County than just Sotos could be affected by a bill that would force state landowners to sell their below-ground natural gas rights to a drilling company as part of a pool with neighboring landowners who have voluntarily sold their rights.
Pyle said he is against a gas company “forcibly” taking someone’s land, adding that he understands the benefits to pooling.
