Bruce Thomson
Durango, Colorado

My wife and I own 157 acres east of Durango, Colorado, that we plan to develop. In 2000, we received notice from BP Amoco of their intention to drill another gas well on our land. I specifically asked to work directly with whomever was authorized to make decisions regarding well placement, pad size, noise mitigation and compensation. After many hours of work and numerous walks on the land, we had come to an agreement with specific protections for about a dozen, large Ponderosas.

Following that completed piece of work I received a call from a company representative at BP Amoco informing me the agreement reached had no standing and the BP Amoco and I would have to start from scratch. In my mind, this was an egregious breach of good faith. I was reminded by BP Amoco in every phone conversation, letter and meeting that I had no choice but to do business with them and if I didn’t cooperate, they didn’t need to do business with me and they would simply “bond and drill.” “Bond and drill” became the gun to my head that made me realize that I could only ask for or resist very little. I am legally bound to confidentiality by the agreement, but I can say that the compensation doesn’t cover the damage to the surface and the promises of mitigation are pretty much non-existent.

I believe that BP Amoco has the right to profit from their mineral rights, but I also believe that I have the right to enjoy my surface rights. By drilling a gas well on my land without adequately compensating me for surface destruction, protecting against noise or other pollution related to the gas well, I have been denied a portion of my surface rights. Don’t let gas well operators continue to exploit their mineral rights at the expense of landowners’ surface rights.