What to do if your property is situated above shale gas
Here are three steps you can take to assess the risks of industrial impacts if your property is situated above shale gas.
- Check the ownership of your mineral rights
- If your property is leased : Know your rights as a leaseholder
- If your property is NOT leased :
- Should you sign a lease?
- Begin gathering baseline data
- Document the current value of your property (an assessment)
- Check the value online through Zillow
- Talk to your homeowner’s insurance agent — have them come out and look at your property
- Hire an appraiser (may cost a considerable amount of money)
- Document your current health so you have baseline data
- Environmental Health Project — Health Effects Registry & Enhancing Health in PA Toolbox
- Environmental Integrity Project — How to Document and Report Problems
- Damascus Citizens for Sustainability — Natural Gas Exploration and Production Health and Community Impacts Survey
- Document the current value of your property (an assessment)
- Understand the industry:
- As you work to protect your property, also start to prepare yourself and your local community to deal with development pressure from industry
Additional Resources:
- A baseline health survey by Damascus Citizens for Sustainability
- DEP Complaint Line: 1-888-723-3721
- Keep a basic health test and toxicology report: a journal to include noise, smells, taste, photos, and any skin conditions.
- Clean Air Council Air Monitoring — Low-cost mobile air monitoring pilot program
- ALLARM has placed a number of its workshop tools and technical resources online including efforts to capture baseline data to watch for impacts from shale gas extraction.
- Environmental Integrity Project's Citizen Toolkit
- Protect Our Children guide, “Meetings with PA DEP or a Company”
Note:
- Keep in mind, there have been reports of falsified water testing sources, so be aware of which lab you go to in order to receive your results.
- Demand results. You have the right to know the state of the land, air, and water on and near your property in order to make sure you and your family are safe before, during, and after gas and oil activity.