Some people sure have a lot of nerve. Homeowners in Gallatin County, Montana have been fighting J.M. Huber Corp. who has leased mineral rights to about 16,000 acres of land in the county and so far they're winning. The drilling process is an environmental mess though as you can guess, it is supported by the Bushies.
"To get at it, drillers must first pump out huge quantities of water, which is often tainted with salt and other minerals. The process -- especially the disposal of huge quantities of foul water -- tends to be far messier and, environmentalists say, more destructive than conventional deep-well gas drilling.
"Mineral rights on most of the disputed land in Gallatin are owned separately from surface rights and have been leased to Huber by absentee landlords. State and federal courts have generally ruled that energy companies, if they have valid leases to gas and oil beneath the ground, can operate on that land, even without the consent of owners who have surface rights. Most of the county's new landowners do not own mineral rights."
