Re: Seismic Testing on Roads: State Roads ODOT issues permits for all state roads.
County/Rural Township Roads The County Engineer's Office issues the permit for county roads.
Landowners: On all state routes, the testing company must get written permission and the landowner can say NO. (Counties have varying permit conditions.)
Message to Landowners: - Seismic Testing is a process where the thumper truck violently shakes the rock formation below your land to extract data and survey the subsurface. (The truck is on the right-of-way, but the vibrations travel a mile down and spread out horizontally below your property.)
- The company sells your valuable data to oil and gas companies for a LOT of money.
- You are not being financially compensated for this testing.
- You do not get a copy of the data and results.
- In many instances, you are not giving your permission, even though you own the land under the right-of-way and the data under your property.
- You have a right to say no or to negotiate a favorable contract.
- If the oil and gas companies find potentially rich areas of oil or gas, they may ask you to lease your land. Without the knowledge of the value of the oil and gas, you have no way of fairly negotiating a price.
- If you don't want to lease, the oil and gas companies and the State can force you to lease your land, against your will, and the Chief of the Oil and Gas Division determines what you are paid.