gas line easement

[gemini5362]

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



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.

It is too bad that you have a poor view of lawyers. I have a very good friend who is an attorney and I have never had bad advice from him or a real answer either. My wife is a real estate attorney from what I hear her clients seem to think that she gives them real answers every time they talk to her. I personally have never met anyone more honest than her so perhaps you have just had the bad luck of meeting one of the less than scrupulous attorneys that give the others bad names. Perhaps you are right about the reason for the need for attorneys. There are a lot of people who dont want to do the right thing anymore they just want to get something for nothing. The reason I advised an real estate attorney is that a lot of people try to write easements and they work for maybe the original parties. Invariably something changes. One of the parties sell their property but the easement is not what they thought it was because it was written wrong. The new owner sees what it really is and takes advantage of the situation. Obviously it is a mute point since you are not buying the property but it is interesting to see you assasinate the character of an entire group of people. Exactly what do you do for a living.

 

[jimg]

Hi gemini
I'm glad your mileage has been better than mine. I've had a fair amt. of exposure to lawyers (very recently too) and few of those episodes ended to well. At any rate I appreciate the pitch for the legal profession and I'm sure you're quite right since there must be some out there capable of conducting themselves properly in public. I think the law of avgs must dictate it. BTW my brother is one (a lawyer) but he denies it regularly.

 

[jimg]

Guess I should have waited another day before posting a final disposition. On my noon time walk today I spotted a utility truck of the company that owns the pipeline and decided to stop and have a talk. This is the first time Ive ever seen anything to do w/ this particular utility. It turns out the guy in the truck is a field tech. responsible for all things to do w/ the pipelines running thru the area. He was quite friendly and able to answer most of my questions. He knew all about the line of my particular interest (in great detail). Cool! So, I came away w/ a list of mostly answered questions and contact info for him and his boss. I'm planning to make an appt to get the remainder answered soon. I guess I should have just used my Easy button right off the bat.

 

[Captinjack]

I've got a gas line that is exposed to the surface of the dirt road coming into my property. It's cast iron as best I can tell.

Contacted the gas company regarding whether it was active or not so I could remove it as I was doing some road work. Never heard from them after talking to a local gas employee who was supposed to mark the line. Heck, no need to mark the line. It already was on top of the road & I have to drive over it!

Shouldn't it be illegal to not have the pipe properly buried? Is this dangerous? Any sage advice out there?

Thanks in advance of any recommedations.

 

[jimg]

Can't tell you exactly but there are federal guidelines they must follow which stipulate a certain maintenance/inspection schedule + state guidlines etc + who knows what else. I learned all this today. I seems though that guide lines or not it would be in the utilities best interest to maintain their infrastructure w/o prodding. The guy I talked w/ said the line was supposed to be buried to a certain depth but that could vary (widely). However, he said they shouldn't be exposed either and if they were it would be a big problem. We were discussing this in the context of how a farm operation might pose problems for their line. He did offer to send a man out to determine the exact depth along the entire length (over a mi.) on the land I'm looking at. Perhaps in your case you're not in touch w/ the right people at the utility? In my case it took some (considerable) time to locate the right person(s). I also asked about putting a road (drive way) over the line and he said they prefer it be parallel or perpendicular rather than on top of the line. However, he didn't seem to think a road would be a problem.

It seems that an exposed line would pose more of a danger than one which is buried. Perhaps the line is no longer in use? Id try to find that out first.

 

[Captinjack]

Thanks for your prompt reply.

I guess I'm gonna have to get off my butt and raise some stink. The main problem with the gas line is that it crosses on of the drainage ditches and clogs up with leaves causing the water to overflow back onto the road.