Case Solutions Archive
Pipeline Right of Way Agreement Nets Clients Four Times Original Offer
After initially being told to “sign or we’ll just go around you,” residents of Wyoming County retained Steve Saunders to negotiate monetary and non-monetary terms of a proposed natural gas pipeline easement with a major pipeline gathering company. After several months of negotiation and despite the company’s insistence that it would never increase the financial terms above what it initially offered, Saunders secured a payment of nearly $120,000 for the easement – almost quadruple the initial offer – and far more favorable non-monetary terms than the pipeline company had originally proposed. The clients’ payment included reimbursement from the pipeline company of 100% of their legal fees as part of the agreement.
13 Years After Acquiring Contaminated Site, Client Obtains Closure at Seller’s Cost
A company which purchased an operating gasoline station from a major refiner under an agreement of sale prepared without legal counsel hired Steve Saunders after taking title to the facility and finding significant contamination. Although the agreement contained a deadline for remediation by the seller which occurred before our engagement, we succeeded in convincing this Fortune 50 Company to continue the cleanup in order to obtain liability relief for our client under Act 2 at no cost to the client.
Wayne County Landowners Sign Natural Gas Lease and Protect 210 Acre Farm
Our clients own a working farm, and were interested in signing a natural gas lease, but wanted to protect a large area of the property from any development activity. We retained a surveyor and working with the landowners, identified a “no surface activity” area to protect their home, barns and livestock. After retaining Steve Saunders to negotiate the monetary and non-monetary terms of a lease with Chesapeake Appalachia LLC, the clients received nearly four times the bonus money they were originally offered and an increase in the natural gas royalty payment.
Government Claim for Cleanup Cost Reimbursement Settled Without Litigation
Steve Saunders has negotiated the settlement of a claim of the United States Coast Guard and the United States Environmental Protection Agency with the United States Department of Justice on behalf of a regional petroleum distributor for the reimbursement of costs of oversight at a petroleum contamination site after the client signed a Consent Agreement agreeing to pay the “reasonable and necessary costs of oversight.” Our client disputed and challenged the amount sought by the federal agencies and ultimately paid approximately 30% of the costs originally demanded.