Posted on 03/19/2005 4:50:11 PM PST by The Grim Freeper
Today, my mother asked me to come see something in their Los Gatos back yard. She took me out to the corner of their large lot (large for Los Gatos, anyway), and she pointed out to me some black, shiny substance seeping out of the ground in patches, and along a line about 10 feet in length. The last heavy rain had made this substance come to the surface.
I said "It looks like oil," and she said she thought so, too. I stuck my finger in it, and it was black, slick, and after I'd rubbed it around to almost a drying point, a little bit gunky. Like crude oil.
We know my parent's property sits on a water table, because the last big earthquake, they weren't anxious to sit in the house, so they sat on the ground, and the ground was all wet (even though it hadn't rained in months).
Also, the heavy rains have caused a number of cracks to appear and/or widen in the brick work and driveway and porches and patios of my parents older home. We definitely are expecting a "big one." We just don't know when, of course. We weathered the Loma Prieta earthquake with a minimum of property damage and some major "rattled" nerves.
But all that is to say, has anyone here ever heard of such a thing? Could crude oil be seeping to the ground surface due to the heavy rains? Could it be something else? If it's oil, what do we do? Do we report it?
Take everything I say below on a tentative level: I am only a law student, and not a very good one at that; please check with a licensed attorney for a better understanding of the issues.
If your parents own the property, then they own everything below ground and (to a certain extent) above ground. If there is in fact a deposit underground, it is theirs (unless the deed makes clear exceptions otherwise, which is doubtful).
I would suggest that you contact an energy law attorney in the area. He would probably have contacts in the energy field that could inspect your parents' land to determine if there is a deposit, and if so, how much. They could then go from there if they decide to form a company to market the oil (I'm sure there would be plenty of drilling companies who could be contracted to pump the oil--it's probably not a large deposit, so it might not even be worth it).
Again, bear in mind that I might be totally wrong. Please contact a real lawyer before taking any real action. Here's hoping you've struck it rich!
Black Gold.
Well the first thing you know ol' Jed's a millionaire, Kinfolk said Jed move away from there-- Said Californy is the place you ought to be, So they loaded up the truck and moved to Beverly. Hills, that is. Although, it is probably septic tank leaching from somewhere, sorry.
"Granny? That possum stew ready yet?"
They just need to draw their blinds at night....sounds like they only had an "excitable prowler" who downloaded on his way out.
Should we ping JimRob??....maybe we won't have to go through the Freepathon thingie next quarter.
Might want to make sure there is not a oil pipeline running under the property though. You could have a serious problem rather then a bonanza.
Certainly, happens all over the planet. OTOH, it could be somebody buried a barrel of oily waste some years back.
And the next thing you, ole Jed's a millionaire.
Check the property discription and see if the mineral rights come with the property. In Texas they do. But I don't know about CA.
Black gold, Texas tea...
Cows, in Berkeley? Oil, in Los Gatos?
Better start putting it in barrels now before the enviro-freaks have your parents evicted and property siezed.
Click here
If you don't own the mineral rights you could wind up with a drilling rig in the back yard.
Suggest you trade the SUV for a diesel....will run on raw oil with some modifications.
somebody buried a 1963 mercury there in the back yard..it has been leaking oil all these years, but it just now has let enough out for it to come to the surface.
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