By David Hedges, Publisher
www.thetimesrecord.net
More than 10,000 natural gas well royalty owners who stand to receive millions of dollars in past due payments could begin to find out how much they will be getting as early as next month.
A hearing in Roane Circuit Court Monday focused on the mechanics of distributing the $380 million settlement in the landmark class-action case known as Tawney vs. Columbia Natural Resources.
Attorneys in the case will receive their one-third share, more than $127 million after expenses are included, as early as next week. Everyone else will have to wait a few more months.
The plaintiffs, who include more than 10,000 individuals, businesses, trusts and holding companies with royalty in CNR wells between 1990 and the present, will find out how much they will receive when they are notified by the CPA firm handling the distribution.
Marvin Masters, lead attorney in the case, said royalty owners could receive statements in the mail as early as late February or March.
"As soon as the calculations are done and the claim form is sent out and returned, the money will be sent to the claimants." Masters said after the hearing.
Masters said royalty owners could accept the figure on their claim form, or challenge the calculation.
The Putnam County CPA firm of Selby, Epperly and Associates will handle the distribution based on data provided by Chesapeake Energy, the successor to CNR.
Chesapeake attorneys said they hoped to have that information compiled and ready to turn over to the CPA firm by the end of this week.
But someone else also wants to know how much the defendants are receiving â the state's attorney in charge of collecting past due child support payments.
Judge Tom Evans said John Wilcox, attorney for the Bureau for Child Support Enforcement for the W.Va. Dept. of Health and Human Resources, had filed a Freedom of Information request asking for names and addresses of all those who stand to receive payments from the settlement.
Evans said the court did not possess most of the information requested, including the list of names.
Attorneys on both sides said some of the information in the list, once it is produced, could be confidential.
One of the defense attorneys, Ancil Ramey Jr., a former clerk for the W.Va. Supreme Court of Appeals, said courts were subject to the Freedom of Information laws.
Evans said he would notify Wilcox regarding what information was in the court files. If he wanted additional information, Evans said Wilcox would have to file a motion to become part of he case.
A Web site cnrsettlement.com set up by plaintiffs' attorneys to keep royalty owners informed regarding the case, provides more details on how the settlement will be distributed.
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