Editor;
As a landowner in the Brinker Storage Field, I would like to update everyone about our lawsuit against Columbia Gas/Nisource. We, as a group of hundreds of landowners, have filed a case against the gas company concerning the old Manufactures Light and Heat leases. The case has 110 plaintiffs.
Our particular lease was signed over 65 years ago, and to this date, there has been nothing done on our property, no wells or pipelines. Columbia Gas/Nisource claims a production clause in the old lease gives them the right to claim our deep drilling rights and to be able to claim the money from the gas and oil that is taken from our property, giving us only about $200 per year for anything that comes from our ground.
The lawsuit is moving along quite well in spite of Columbia Gas/Nisource’s efforts to end it. We hope to have this matter resolved in the near future, so we can receive the benefits from our property.
A while back, there was some confusion about what we were actually wanting from this lawsuit. We are aware of Columbia’s claimed storage lease, but that alone does not give them the right to profit from our minerals under the storage field. We own the minerals on our farm, not Columbia Gas.
Walter and Karen Hucko
Lisbon, Ohio
