West Virginia Surface Owners’ Rights Organization
1500 Dixie Street, Charleston, West Virginia  25301
Voice: 304-346-5891 ~ Fax: 304-346-8981
Website: www.wvsoro.org ~ E-mail: info@wvsoro.org

Educating you about the rights that you have, Working to get you the rights you deserve.

Dear West Virginia Landowner:

Did you know that West Virginia is second only to Texas in the number of active oil and gas wells in the country? Did you know that new drilling permits have more than tripled in the past several years? Did you know that surface owners have very few rights unless they also own the minerals? If you live in one of the state’s 51 oil and gas counties you’ve probably seen or heard of the polluted streams, needless destruction of timber, lost home sites, mindless road building and ruined pastures caused by drillers.

Last year, Governor Manchin tried to push through a bill that would have bailed out a large gas company that had been found guilty of defrauding thousands of West Virginians. That same bill would have cut taxes for drillers and made it legal to drill even more wells on a piece of property. In the old days that bill would have passed into law and the surface owner would have been the loser –AGAIN.

Fortunately, a new group of landowners’ rights advocates was there to shine light on the Governor’s plan and help kill the bill. Now for the first time in memory, YOU, the West Virginia surface owner, has a watchdog group at the Capitol. Encouraged and empowered by prior legislative success on reining in the oil and gas industry abuses on state forest lands, plus the fact that we were (and continue) receiving calls from irate landowners complaining about drilling abuses across the state, we launched WV SORO – the West Virginia Surface Owners’ Rights Organization.

WV SORO is a growing statewide membership organization focused on protecting landowners from abuses by oil & gas drillers.  The group was formed last summer by several state landowners, public interest lawyer Dave McMahon and WV Citizen Action Group (WV-CAG). We can now count among our ranks members from 51 of West Virginia’s counties and 19 other states who are still caring for their home places.

We are looking for like-minded people, devoted to protecting and enhancing surface owners’ rights, to join us by become members of WV SORO.

We help landowners by serving as a resource and making sure they understand what rights they have now.  Dave McMahon’s WV Surface Owners’ Guide to Oil and Gas helps landowners assess their situation, outlines what rights they have and gives them advice on how to use these rights to their advantage. The guide includes step-by-step suggestions on what property owners should do when they get a notice of an application for a permit, what to do while the oil or gas well is being drilled, what to do after drilling is completed and what to do to get compensated for damages. 

WV SORO also focuses on legislative options for expanding surface owners' rights in West Virginia. With your input and support we want to pass a “Surface Owners’ Bill of Rights” to level the playing field with the oil & gas companies and give landowners more say in the location of wells and access roads and other matters related to oil & gas exploration on their property. At the Legislature, mineral owners and companies owning large tracts of surface land have a united, well-funded and powerful lobby. Until now you, on the other hand, didn’t. We have a combined 50 years experience lobbying at the State Capitol.

You can help us level that playing field by joining WV SORO.

Your membership will provide us with the funds to elevate our common issues in the press and take them to the legislature. WV SORO will also help put some backbone into the state Division of Oil and Gas when they realize that surface owners are united in defense of their land.

Not since the early 1980’s when the Oil & Gas Damage Compensation Act was passed has the time been so ripe for positive change. Presently, huge increases in drilling, mounting outrage over the abusive treatment of surface owners and McMahon’s excellent land owners’ manual combine to create a rare opportunity to effect some real changes in surface owners’ law and improved enforcement. Creating the political capital to make drillers be more responsible and environmentally compliant will help us achieve that goal. Your support will go a long way to build and expand WV SORO. Thanks in advance for your support.

Sincerely,

Dave McMahon, Author of the WV Surface Owners’ Guide to Oil & Gas

Gary Zuckett, Executive Director, WV Citizen Action Group

John & Sally Snyder, irate WV landowners & founding members of WV SORO