Why did we sign? Partly because natural gas is a relatively “clean” fuel, so obtaining it locally seemed reasonable. Partly because the way it was presented to us made it sound inevitable and benign. Partly because the money was appealing. The Music Man came to town, and I am astonished and ashamed that we succumbed to his tune.

We never would have signed if we had known then what we now know about the pollution potential and the possible transformation of peaceful residential and agricultural areas into industrial zones. I am sure that there are many other landowners who feel the same way. We have decided to use the money we received from the lease to try to stave off this potential disaster. A new organization called “(F)leased” is forming to represent people who signed leases and wish they hadn't.

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September, 2009 found Fortuna striking a deal with the ”The Friendsville Group” consisting of 600 landholders in Susquehanna and Bradford counties, Pennsylvania and the New York county of Broome. The company was to pay $5,500/acres on a five year lease with right to extend the lease for an additional three years. Royalties were to be 20% on production. The total deal amounted to $165 million for drilling rights to 30,000 acres in the three counties. C. Warren Trainor, a Philadelphia attorney, represented The Friendsville Group in the negotiation. Update, September 17, 2009: Despite The Friendsville Group having accepted Fortuna’s offer, [[Chesapeake Energy]] made a counter-offer amounting to $5,750/acre, 20% royalty and only a 5 year lease with no right to extend for another three years. A Fortuna spokes person indicated that despite the counter-offer, the company remained confident that it would still be able the to lease their minimum contingency acreage for the deal to go through which was 20,000 acres. Apparently, members of the group are at liberty to lease to whomever they choose.

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