When a pipeline company approaches a Pennsylvania landowner, one of the first questions is usually: How much should I be paid? That is the right question, but it is only the beginning. Pipeline easement compensation is not just about a price per foot, price per acre, or one-time payment. A pipeline agreement can affect a… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Blog
PA Pipeline Temporary Easement & Work Space Agreements Explained
When a pipeline company approaches a Pennsylvania landowner, most of the focus tends to be on the permanent easement—the strip of land where the pipeline will ultimately be buried. However, in many cases, the temporary easement area and work space rights may have an equal—or even greater—impact on the property. These areas are often significantly… Read more »
What Pennsylvania Landowners Should Do Before Signing a Pipeline Option Agreement
When a Pennsylvania landowner is approached by a gas or pipeline company, the paperwork is often described as a simple pipeline right-of-way agreement. But in many cases, that is not really what the company is offering. Very often, the document is actually a Pipeline Option Agreement. That distinction matters. A Pipeline Option Agreement is not… Read more »
Pipeline Survey Requests in Pennsylvania: Do You Have to Allow Access to Your Property?
Many Pennsylvania landowners first learn about a pipeline project when they receive a letter requesting permission to enter their property for a survey. These requests are often presented as routine—but they are not insignificant. Survey access is typically the first step toward a permanent pipeline easement, and how you respond can directly impact your rights,… Read more »
Pipeline Easements in Pennsylvania: What Landowners Need to Know Before Signing Anything
If you are a Pennsylvania landowner approached by a pipeline company, you may be told that signing a pipeline easement is routine—or even unavoidable. It is neither. Pipeline easements are binding legal agreements that permanently affect your property rights, land value, and future use of your land. Once signed, these agreements can last indefinitely and… Read more »
Pennsylvania Pipeline Easements: What Landowners Must Know Before Signing in 2026
By Douglas A. Clark, Esquire Pennsylvania Pipeline Attorney – Representing Landowners Only Introduction: Why Pipeline Easements Demand Careful Legal Review Pipeline companies across Pennsylvania continue expanding infrastructure for natural gas, liquids, and related energy transportation. With that expansion comes an increasing number of pipeline easement offers to landowners—often presented as routine agreements. They are not…. Read more »
Understanding FERC’s Pipeline Certificate Process: What Every Pennsylvania Landowner Must Know
Introduction: When a Pipeline Company Comes Knocking For many Pennsylvania landowners, the first contact with a natural gas pipeline company comes as a surprise. A letter arrives in the mail, a land agent appears at the door, or survey stakes suddenly show up along a property line. Often the landowner has no idea that a… Read more »
Negotiating Gathering, Trunk and/or Transportation Pipeline Agreements – No Threat of Eminent Domain and Condemnation
Unlike the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) interstate pipeline projects addressed in my last Blog, “Gathering”, “Trunk”, and “Transportation” Pipeline Agreements do not involve the threat of eminent domain and condemnation. It is critical that landowners understand that the vast majority of Pipeline Agreements presented to Pennsylvania landowners have no potential for eminent domain and condemnation. In fact, only a very small fraction of Pipeline Agreements carry the possibility of eminent domain and a “taking” by way of condemnation.
FERC Interstate Pipelines – Negotiating Pipeline Right-of-Way Agreements with the Threat of Eminent Domain and Condemnation
Pennsylvania’s tremendous production of shale gas has resulted in an overabundant supply with the pressing need to move the natural gas to other regions of the country. Pennsylvania’s natural gas market is saturated and gas companies are pressing hard to transport gas to distant markets at higher prices. As a result of the pressing need…
News Flash: Giving All Landowners Bad Pipeline Agreements is Not “Fairness”
The Pipeline Company Landman Says the Company Will Not Offer More Money Because They Want to Be “Fair” to Other Landowners Who have Already Signed Pipeline Agreements.
There are many tactics that pipeline companies use to try to persuade landowners to sign company friendly Pipeline Agreements for low compensation. Although many of these techniques cause me to pull my hair out, one particular technique drives me especially batty.
