Bill requires written notice before drilling
by Mike Hasten - News Star (excerpt)

BATON ROUGE -- Landowners who have agreed to allow oil or gas drilling on their property should get at least 30 days notice before crews move in to build roads, set up drilling platforms and start drilling, says Sen. Bret Allain, R-Franklin. The House Natural Resources Committee Wednesday endorsed his Senate Bill 535 and sent it to the full House for debate.

Allain, who is a sugarcane farmer and land manager, said his bill comes from personal experience. He said he had just planted a new crop when a representative of a drilling operation started putting out markers for a road that would be built to a drilling site. The representative said the road and drilling rig would be onsite within four days, and he had no time to make changes.

"If you have a mineral lease, they have the right to extract minerals," he said. "Just give a man fair notice so he can take care of his business."