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6K views 47 replies 15 participants last post by  Northeast PA hay and beef 
#1 ·
We have an old easement with an oil line 4 inches in diameter that hasn't been used for 30 years and YGI decided they want to place an 8 inch high pressure gas line right beside the oil line 12 foot beside. We have a pond that's a third of an acre there going under 14 acres of Woodland there chiseling the whole side off and down through a mile of farmland. They came around in February and said it would be a minimum of disturbance two small lines side-by-side what's the big deal they have to remove 60-foot Wide Pass, remove all the topsoil 1ft subsoil. Compact the subsoil below can create basically a Highway across the whole Farm 60 foot wide then they dig a ditch 18 inches wide 5 foot deep and place the pipeline in. Contractor went through the Woodland show a little mercy on me only took 45 foot because he said the trees were pretty nice. UGI came back in and said cut them down they won't give an inch. The trees are mine and they know it the ground most of them up they brought a huge grinder and because they need the wood chips to control erosion. He said they do not have to pay for the trees I told him that is another crop we Harvest you have to pay for any crop damage you do. We got a new lawyer. The people that bid the job or from Texas and Kentucky. The event the equipment from a local dealer.
 

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#4 ·
endrow - you mean UGI, not YGI, right? I'm guessing the easement was already on your property when you purchased it so you weren't able to negotiate any of the terms.

This is a sobering reminder to anyone looking to buy property. If there's an easement, steer clear or offer a lot less money. You never know when the easement holder will come back to take more of your land.

Gary
 
#5 ·
Yes my grandparents sold the easement $40,000 in 1938. I did me UGI. The dishonesty is the thing that disappoints me and everybody else in the area since February they Mark the area they would excavate as about 12 to 15 feet. When they get here with the equipment they move it out to 60 feet. UGI uses a third party ride-away negotiator they told me as of last Friday they were appalled that this kind of Destruction would happen to the land. The contractor says they lie they've had these plans in their hands for at least three years.
 
#7 ·
Take tons of pics....Are you letting them on land that isnt in the easment? Maybe play hardball and tell them they must not get out of the 60 ft easement.

I wonder if anyone at PSU extension could look at the woodland and put a price on the timber? And good luck with their reclamation work. If its anything like the loggers we had they spin a little grass seed on and high tail it out of there..
 
#9 ·
Contact the County Planning ,,NSRCS,, the extension gave me several other divisions for Forestry and natural resources within the government system. Who generally would be out in just a minute's time if someone just let one rip beside a shovel. No one seems to really want to get involved with this deal. They said they'll all be out when it's over and done
 
#10 · (Edited by Moderator)
Evidently these right away deals are a little bit tricky. Contacted County Planning NSR CS
Had this happen to me on a smaller scale just a month or two ago.
I cut a lot of land and it has a pipeline running under it. About every 3 years, they bring in huge brush cutting machines to cut a 50' swath over the pipelines and install new pipeline markers.

Of course nothing of the scale that Endrow is dealing with, but they trampled down a lot of my hay stands with no regard for crop losses with their huge machines.
4 years ago when they did it, it was very wet. They created huge ruts in the fields that to this day make it very difficult on equipment and operators to farm.
 
#11 ·
Yes and they said shame of it was our family was never usually compensated for this and my mom said you would only understand if you lived in these times. Government came in and took this late in the Great Depression during the beginning of World War II when they were just doing things like that and people just went along with it because it was just such desperate times. She said they took over all the local motels and there were a bunch because of the massive amount of soldiers that were being stationed at Fort Indiantown Gap
 
#12 · (Edited by Moderator)
Similar happened to my great aunt & uncle who immigrated here in the 1930's from Northern Europe to get away from Nazi Germany. They were born there, but we always considered them Americans. They bought 600 acres of farmland in Breezewood, PA because they were convinced Germany was going to invade the US and wanted to get as far inland as they could get but still be fairly close to my grandparents in the once great city of Philadelphia.
In about 1940, PA turnpike commission used eminent domain seizure to cut a huge swath through their property to build part of a cloverleaf exit. They had a huge farm, timber stands and oil/gas production on their property.
 
#13 ·
I am kinda surprised no one wants to get involved...maybe because they just view it as a civil matter regarding value of the trees...wait till we have a good hard rain, then call and tell them there is erosion problems...I bet that will bring someone out...
 
#14 ·
Contact the County Planning ,,NSRCS,, the extension gave me several other divisions for Forestry and natural resources within the government system. Who generally would be out in just a minute's time if someone just let one rip beside a shovel. No one seems to really want to get involved with this deal. They said they'll all be out when it's over and done
Typical gubmint... worthless as tits on a boar hog...

Good luck! OL J R :)
 
#15 ·
I am kinda surprised no one wants to get involved...maybe because they just view it as a civil matter regarding value of the trees...wait till we have a good hard rain, then call and tell them there is erosion problems...I bet that will bring someone out...
If *YOU* (as a private individual) do something like this, they'd land on you with both feet... But let a COMPANY (big corporation) do it, it's "we'll deal with it when it's over" (and not do a damn thing, least of all for you as the landowner-- may generate some fines for the GUBMINT but the landowner can go hang.

Gubmint literally makes me sick.

Later! OL J R :)
 
#18 ·
Sugar their equipment.
Make them pay the hard way.
Yep, get caught, go to jail, get sued, end up owing them money... REAL smart...

I know when they did the pipeline across our farm a couple years back, they had a guy on the payroll driving around all night watching their equipment... went from one area to another, wherever they had equipment parked, on a random schedule... he even had night-vision binoculars, cameras, and other assorted gear to document anybody screwing with their stuff or stealing, and had the cops and a security company on speed dial...

I talked to the guy when he drove out into the pasture to check on their stuff... we had walked down there to see their progress, so he wanted to check us out as well. Interesting conversation.

Think before you do anything stupid...

Later! OL J R :)
 
#19 ·
They are putting in a big development down at the intersection of two big highways. Easy access for theives...

Every night all the equipment is lined up in one neat row right near the road. I never saw an excavator that picky. Its pretty clear they wanted to keep all their ducks in a row...
 
#24 ·
Me and auto type are dangerous when discussing this pipeline a while back I said the original easement was purchased for 40K that is incorrect the original easement for the pipeline was purchased for 1K in 1938. LOL that was probably more like the price of the whole Farm
 
#25 · (Edited by Moderator)
We have a natural gas pipeline on our place with a 50 ft easement that was relatively unattended. A couple of years ago the gas company came through re-clearing the full width of the pipeline, installing access gates in all fences, and painting T-posts blue with white at the top for five posts on either side of the gates, and placing a yellow T-post over the pipeline and a warning sign at each fence. They were working on the far side of my new alfalfa fence when I caught up to the crew. I demanded that they leave my alfalfa fence alone and simply go around to the other side of the 8-acre alfalfa patch, which they did after allowing me to talk to their supervisor. They stayed off the alfalfa; no gates in that fence; and no blue and white T-posts on the near side fence.
 
#26 ·
Talk to Ugi they are saying what shut the pipeline job down was, inspector came in did a random check for pipe quality and found some gases and grooves under the code rapper on the steel pipe. He wanted what they laid so far dug up and checked and all new pipe used as usual UGA wins which is good I didn't want to have to see him to get it up again.. as far as the water in a ditch they threw the pipe in the water and buried it with my topsoil they made concrete brakes every 60 feet in the rest of my farm so the water does not follow the pipe does not follow the pipe. For all you pipeline experts this is to be a high pressure line can you tell me what the pressure is approximately in a high pressure transmission line. I could ask UGI but they have lied about everything else.
 

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