gas line easement

[BTDT]

I work for gas utility in Dallas. I think the post about DOT refers to interstate pipelines. We are intra-state, Texas Railroad commission are the ones that regulate our lines. I work in the Transmission (high pressure) side of the business, Distribution (low pressure) takes gas from us, regulates it down in pressure and delivers it to customers and business. This is where the color(?) comes in, usually yellow or orange (plastic) for low pressure, steel for high pressure (can sometimes have a light green coating for corrosion protection). Easements vary. Years ago, and out in the country, it was 25' either side of pipe (50' total). As encroachments (population) started getting closer to lines, sometimes they would narrow the easement. Varies by population, whether or not schools are nearby, single story buildings or high rises. Usually gas co. takes care of gas line up to the meter, from meter to house/business is owners responsibility. As for easement access, the gas co. usually pays the taxes on the land that the pipeline is on within the easement, so that's why they can come and go as they please. Depths vary. Widely. Texas has a one call system, you notify them and they will send someone to mark line with flags, and they can "bar" down and tell you how deep it is. Ours are usually around 3'. One runs under Lake Ray Hubbard. Signs should be on each side of road and at fences with Company's tel. # for emergency contacts. Contact your local gas co. and they can give you all the specifics, when pipe was laid, pressure, etc. You would be amazed at how many pipelines are out there.

 

[YanmarFever]

He is only interested in selling the land, and the less he says, the less he can be held responsible for. When dealing with the realtor, remember, that he / she works for the seller, not the buyer. Many times they will tell you that you don't need a lawyer. If you hire a lawyer, he will be working for you, and is being paid to protect your interests, not the sellers. Many people believe that the mortgage company lawyers will protect them. They work for the mortgage company, not you. If you can't afford to have an attorney working for you, then you can't afford to purchase the property, because the money you spend now, will save you 10 times that amount later on when problems arise. It is always better to be pro active, than re active. Resolve all these issues before you purchase the land. Later on, you might not even be able to sell the land because of potential problems. A good lawyer will not cost you money, but will save you money and headaches.
Dusty

Dusty, thats good advise !

We had a gas pipeline on our last place we lived at, NEVER again will we do that. 3x a week their plane went 100' over our house at 6am checking out the pipe or spraying herbiside on the grass over the pipe.

When we had a small earthquake everyone was worried about that dumb pipe in their back yards.

My old neighbor was an excavator and he would dig around it all the time and we would call it in to the pipeline # after he would build fires near the site.
In all we were always nervous over the dumb thing.

My wife was happy when we moved

 

[NoMo]

There is a "warning" sign at one corner of my property for a high-pressure gas line. When I bought the place, I asked the seller about it and he gave me an environmental impact study that he had done when he bought the place. While the primary reason for the study was an abandoned oil well on an adjacent property, it showed information for the gas line. So, you might ask if a similar study has been done on the land you're looking at.

Unfortunately, while installing a fence a couple of years ago, I "found" another gas line that was not marked on the easements and wasn't listed in the environmental study. This was a small, low-pressure line transporting raw gas to a nearby underground storage well (which is where the high-pressure line also goes!). Obviously, I called "the gas company" when I 'found' this line. They sent a rep out and he surveyed his maps and didn't see this line anywhere either. Finally, after driving around looking for other gas line notices (signs), he found a small oil company who said the line was theirs.

The point of all this rambling is that you may need to do some investigative work to find the owner of the gas line if it's not clearly marked. And, you may "find" other lines that aren't marked at all. So, if "I" really liked the property, I'd not let that gas line be the reason not to buy the place.

Oh, and the high-pressure line that just clips the corner of my place also runs diagonally across the middle of the two 10 acre tracts next to me. Both of those tracts have recently sold- even with the gas line AND the old, abandoned oil well on property line between them!

 

[kenmac]

I know here they fly over the gas line in a helecopter .if they see any activity going on their R.O.W.they land the chopper .Most of these gas lines are distribution lines which could have in exccess of 800 to 1000 psi mabe more depending on the line. They don't like anyone digging, building ,etc, over their line.We had a guy that dug a footing for a garage over one of our lines once. Says he didn't think to call. The line only had 300 psi on it. He was lucky he didn't burn himself & his machine up. He had to move his garage off the R.O.W.

 

[BTDT]

We also have what we call "air patrol". They look for work going on near pipeline, dead spots (when grass is actually green, a leak will show up as a dead spot), encroachments (when someone is building or moving something on top of pipeline), etc.

Here are 3 pics of a section of our pipe (18" steel) that was in the bottom of a creek. A hydra-axe (rubber tired articulated front mounted brush cutter) was clearing ROW (right-of-way) along top of pipeline, dropped off into a dry section of creek bed, rotating blade dug into bottom of creekbed and hit pipe (see marks on pipe), causing it to blow out. It had 600#'s pressure on it at the time. Luckily no fire or explosion.

As a side note, if you are mowing property unfamiliar to you, there are also some pipes sticking out of ground where house meters used to be, but house and slabs are long gone. It can be exciting if you hit one of those with a mower also.

 

[kenmac]

About 2 yrs age , there was a company installing an underground cable of some sort (no pictures)The trincher was an $80,000 machine until it trinched a hole in one of our lines with 500 psi on it . The operator got off in time ,but the machine was toast.

 

[jimg]

Well, thanx a million for all the inputs. You've given me lots to consider!

I do understand the realtor works for the seller. I wasn't after a substantive reply when I put the question to him. I was interested in his reaction to the question and how he might answer it. I'm not at all set on this property yet. Its a reasonably good piece of ground that would suit my purposes pretty well and it's fairly fetching and lays well. However, it's certainly not worth anything if having a gas line on it would be a problem. Right now I'm just investigating and the easement is part of that. I will say that it grows some world class squirrels. While we were driving the back 40 one of the biggest squirrels I've ever seen ran right in front of the truck. WOW!!! WOW!!!!! I was ready then and there to go squirrel hunting!!!! Even the realtor commented and he was a deer hunter by preference. It took a bit to settle back down and pay attention to what we were doing.

As for lawyers...I have a *very* poor view of them and completely disagree w/ the absolute need for one. Catching a greased pig is far easier than getting a real answer from a lawyer no matter who pays him. The high demand for lawyers, I think, is mostly driven by the fact that people refuse to listen/talk to each other anymore or treat each other w/ proper respect. There was a time when not so many lawyers were needed or wanted.

I'll check back in once I've spoken w/ the utility rep. and have looked over the agreement and asked my questions.

I really aprpeciate all the input and thank you for taking the time to write it up!!

 

[jimg]

Just to wrap this all up...both the realtor and I tryed our best to get the utility to discuss the easement but they've just ignored us. We both have called several times and left messages indicating what we needed etc. but get no call back. Perhaps this is SOP? If so, it seems rather odd and in my mind bodes badly for any future interaction I might have w/ them. BTW the person who's getting the messages is at work. I guess if I really wanted the land I could travel to SC and knock on their door but I think I have all the info I need. We also had a chance to 'meet' the neighbors last w/e which was the bullet in the head of this deal. They seem to believe the land should stay open so they have someplace to exercise, hunt and whatever else it is they do there. It's too bad b/c it was a pretty nice place otherwise. Oh well....

 

[rox]

I would expect that restriction, although one place I was checking for leaks had an 8" line running right under the middle of a good sized pond.

Bird,

As soon as i saw the topic I knew this was an ideal question for your background and experience. We are so lucky here on TBN to have such diversity in our members.

I did have to kind of smile when BMAC posted about his swingset project. But then when i read all the different replies with different ideas and suggestions i realized how right he was to post here first, before we buy or sign.

 

[kossetx]

Jim, I haven't read any of the posts but I'm going to give you my opinion without that. There has been a gas pipeline across my property for more than 60 years. They recieved the rights under eminent domain as family owned the land before the pipeline came. I have never had any real complaints with them for the 26 years I've been on it other than they mowed the mesquite trees rather that kill them. Those dang mesquite have built quite a root stock. They come in and mow and leave without any problems or damage. Now that I keep it mowed, they don't even come in anymore.

I don't know how deep the pipe is, but there is a dry creek that has cut down about 8' and there still is no pipe showing.

Just fyi, MP