| A Gilmer County driller responds to an earlier story, read Landowners Feel Ignored regarding landowner rights at a Roane County site
By David Hedges, Publisher
www.thetimesrecord.net
The head of the drilling company that put a natural gas well in the Little Pigeon area said he tried to work with the landowners, in spite of their claims to the contrary.
Ron Stalnaker is president of Stalnaker Energy Corporation of Glenville, which drilled a well on the property owned by John and Sally Snyder. The Snyders own the surface, but not the mineral rights.
In a story published last week, the couple said the well was drilled on the site where they had planned to build a home for their son.
Stalnaker, however, said he worked with the Snyders for 10 months to try and accommodate their wishes.
"I pretty much dispute everything Mr. Snyder said," Stalnaker said in an interview this week.
Stalnaker said he started talking with the couple in December 2005, in anticipation of drilling the well in July 2006.
He said he was willing to drill the well in a different location on the property, but that would have required the couple to grant him a right-of-way to that location. It also meant the company had to change the locations of other planned wells, to maintain adequate distance between wells.
"They wanted it farther back on the hill, out of sight, and we said, 'Fine, we'll work with you,'" Stalnaker said.
Stalnaker said his company paid "thousands of dollars" to have a survey done prior to preparation of the agreement.
"He still wouldn't sign the right-of-way," Stalnaker said.
Stalnaker said Snyder's demands kept changing over a period of several months.
"It was just one thing after another," he said.
Because of the delays, Stalnaker said he had to release a drilling rig he had leased to drill the well.
"It was roughly three months before we could get it again, which set our whole drilling program back," he said.
He said Snyder eventually refused to return phone calls or e-mails.
"They made comments to the survey crew that they would keep delaying until we went away," Stalnaker said. "It finally became obvious they weren't going to sign anything."
After the negotiations failed to result in an agreement, Stalnaker filed for a drilling permit in August, which gave the Snyders 15 days to file comments with the state. They did, Stalnaker responded and the permit was issued Aug. 28, 2006.
After the permit had already been issued, and two days before site work began, Stalnaker said Snyder rented a ditching machine and installed water and gas lines on the access road.
Stalnaker said Snyder then left the machine in the road, which blocked access to the site. Stalnaker said after the company threatened to contact law enforcement, Snyder moved the machine.
The lines Snyder installed were cut in the process of widening the access road, which was one of Snyder's complaints. Stalnaker said the lines were never connected to any utilities, and Snyder installed them knowing where the drilling location had been permitted.
"It was apparent that Mr. Snyder's objective was to prevent us from drilling on his surface," Stalnaker said. "If he wanted to preserve this site, or any other site, all he had to do was sign a right-of-way agreement and we would have gladly drilled it there."
The Snyders also complained about trees shoved over the hill left to rot on the property. Stalnaker said the timbering on the site was done according to state regulations. Marketable timber was stacked, he said, and the remainder was "windrowed" at the bottom of the location to act as a sediment barrier.
The marketable timber remains the property of the surface owner, but the Snyders complained it was stacked behind the well site, making it difficult to reach. Stalnaker contends the timber is accessible.
Stalnaker said the $2,000 his company offered the Snyders for damages to their property was more than $700 above the appraised value of the timber that was cut.
While Snyder says the company refuses to negotiate, Stalnaker has a different story.
"From the time we made our initial offer, he has never contacted us," Stalnaker said. "I don't know how he can say we won't negotiate."
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