• cobra89@beehaw.org
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    7 months ago

    Did you even read the article? Due to the way Oklahoma law works the family owns the land and farm, but the oil companies have the “mineral rights” underneath which obligates the family to let them drill even after they tried in the courts to stop it.

    Oklahoma law allows the oil companies to drill an unlimited number of wells on only a $25,000 bond. So they just don’t clean up the wells and let the state have the bond because it’s cheaper.

    The problem is the state, not the family. Nowhere does it mention the family selling their rights to the minerals underneath or anything like that.

    I fail to see how the family is supporting the oil industry.

      • cobra89@beehaw.org
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        7 months ago

        All the article says about their parents is:

        Stan’s 84-year-old parents, Don and Shirley Ledgerwood, have watched oil companies drill multiple wells on their farm, where the family had grown crops and run cattle. The family received small royalty payments from the oil production.

        Which still does not say that their parents let them. They received the royalty payments I’m assuming because the law about mineral rights requires the drillers to pay the land owners.

        Nowhere in this article does it say they ever gave them permission. From what I understand their parents did not sell the mineral rights.

        Can you please cite where it says or implies otherwise?