Has anyone had any problems with the people that come out to clear the pipline right of way?
Has anyone had any problems with the people that come out to clear the pipline right of way?
Are you having problems?
I have a pipe line that runs across my property and have had no problems with the company workers. In fact next week I will meet a supervisor to find a good location to run electric under their pipe for another new home.
I keep the grass mowed on the right away and don't let any brush get a start.
not too sure what kind of response you are looking for, but YES, I have had nothing but trouble with the company that installed the large water line across the back of my neighbors and my property!...they buried a 96" steel water line about 12 miles long, connecting the new 4500 acre subdivision a few miles away with the large lake nearby....they stated in their contract with us, when we sold them the easement, that they would disturb the area as little as possibe, and all the land would be returned to its original condition!
What a joke that turned out to be!...they had very large, heavy construction equipment stored on my property for about 6 mos, which i know was needed for the job, but instead of placing it neatly or lining them up on Friday afternoons when they left, they just left the machines haphazzardly all around the area they were working in. After they were finished burying the pipe, they used my place for storing all the accessories they were going to need for the next few months of work, because my property was next to the road...there was pallets of pipe and flanges, gaskets, large boxes of nuts and bolts which never got touch for a couple of months just sitting on my property...I asked the foreman a few times to move them off the property and he said he would take care of it...well, when spring time came and it hadn;t been moved yet, I borrowed my neighbors tractor with the forks on it and just moved all the crap out by the street....I didnt care if it got stolen or not..I had given him ample opportunites to move it himself!....we still have large ruts when they did a sorry a$$ job of backfilling, they reseeded the area with some kind of crappy grass, instead of the coastal bermuda which was there originally.....I have large rocks, which were buried before they excavated the area, now popping up every time we get some rain....they have left my neighbors gates open quite a few times, allowing the horses and cows to get out....al in all, it turned into a disaster.....mind you, this is property which sells for between $50k-$75k an acre too....the five acres behind me just sold for $275k with no utilities whatsoever....and to top it all off, we cant even use the water from the waterline!...it is for a different city all together!....trust me, the little bit we got paid for the easement wont even cover the attorney's fees we have racked up with these guys...I had a neighbor who had a pond next to waterline....they piled the dirt from the trench by the pond for almost a yr, everytime it rained, more and more dirt back into his pond! they finally sent a trackhoe out there to clean out his pond, but only after the city threatened to withhold payment....the contractor drove the equipment too close to the edge of the new concrete road the developer put in a couple of yrs ago....cracked the concrete street...city made them reolace a whole section of the street..they wanted to just put a patch where the cracks were .....the city has been very helpful, but the main problem is that the water district has paid the contractor most of their money, and the city is only holding back less than $100k for repairs...
sorry for the rant, but you did ask! lol
IMHO, if you can avoid dealing with the pipeline folks, avoid them like the plague!!! the electric company tried to come in last yr and run utility lines across the back of our property also....we fought them like the devil..and they decided to reroute the lines to a part of the city....
Thanks for your replies. I have a petrolium pipeline running through my property and reciently Exxon/Mobil sent a contractor out unanounced to cut the brush along the pipeline. Will 2 of my dogs disappeared and I though the workers had killed them. Sounded biizzare but couldn't come up with any other thoughts. But all is well, one dog came wondering up an led me to the other. Appearantly they followed the workers up the pipeline and got lost. The last time they cleaned the pipeline they sent out a notice. I guess money is getting tight now. I'm still going to ask that they send out notice. [img]/forums/images/icons/mad.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/confused.gif[/img]
The first time Sun Oil came to cut the right a way after we bought the property, they met our two one hundred pound Giants Schnauzers at the property line. It was fun watching the two guys trying to talk to the dogs and get their nerve up. I really did not want them to cross our property because the ground was soft by the creek.
When I got to the dogs and put them on stay, the workers were nice enough to cross my property on high ground and not leave ruts.
I attached a picture of the dogs at the fence line. [img]/forums/images/icons/smirk.gif[/img]
The folks we deal with here for irrigation water are pretty nice and considerate. However, there is no way I'd allow any additional easements if I have any say in it (yeah, I know they can do "eminent domain", but I hope no one tries). If you have an easement already, there isn't much you can do about how they treat you, unfortunately. Good luck with 'em...
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If you have an easement already, there isn't much you can do about how they treat you,
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There are a few things you can do. First, read the easement document. They are allowed to do what the easement allows and some things that are reasonably implied by that. But thay can't use it for unrelated purposes.
Know where the easement lines are, exactly. Have it surveyed if necessary. They are not allowed anywhere but on their easement.
Photograph and/or video the property to document its condition. We often do that before construction. It makes it pretty easy to settle restoration disputes, as both parties can see what the original conditions were. Usually, looking at the pix will settle an argument.
Talk with your attorney. Local customs and practices differ from place to place. There may be some additional arrows in your quiver - or in theirs. It's kinda nice to know what you can legally get away with and what they can.
-Dennis
Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.
Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.
I have Sinclair Pipeline running though my place. I have only owned the land four years and all my dealings with them have been great. They alway call before coming on my property even though I am a remote landowner. At my request they put up a gate across the pipeline to prevent treaspassers.
This Spring they came in replaced all the pipe. Made a huge mess. Some of this done at my request since we were hitting the pipe when plowing the bottoms. Offered to put in lake in another area because of errosion exposing pipe. I declined becasue I really wanted it engineered to shed the proper amount of water. Now wish I would have said yes and got with the NRCS for design and matching funds
Completely tore up 1/4 mile road with heavy equipment. At my request they regraded and put in about $500 worth of gravel (it needed gravel anyway saved me $$).
Now if you talk to be my neighbors it's a different story. But in all my requests they acted fair and been prompt.
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