Pipeline Easements — Protecting Landowner Rights
Pipeline and utility easements often present the most complex and disruptive issues facing commercial and industrial property owners. These disputes sit at the crossroads of real estate law and oil and gas operations—and The Shore Firm is uniquely equipped to handle them.
The Shore Firm represents property owners, developers, and operators in disputes involving pipeline and utility easements, including scope-of-use conflicts, improper expansions, abandonment claims, unrecorded or defective easements, access interference, and damage to property or improvements. We know how to analyze easement language in light of industry practice, regulatory requirements, and decades of operational history.
Our goal is to protect property rights while addressing the operational realities of energy infrastructure. Whether the issue involves legacy oil and gas pipelines, midstream facilities, or utility corridors impacting development or industrial use, we bring practical insight and aggressive advocacy to ensure easement holders are held to the rights they actually have—no more and no less.
Pipeline and utility easements can quietly erode a landowner’s property rights if they are not carefully enforced. Many easements were granted decades ago, under very different conditions, and are now being stretched beyond their original purpose. At The Shore Firm, we advocate for landowners whose property is burdened by pipelines, gathering lines, or utility corridors—and whose rights are being ignored or minimized.
Kenneth Shore’s experience as an oil and gas operator provides a critical advantage for landowners. He understands how pipelines are actually installed, operated, maintained, and sometimes neglected. That insight allows us to distinguish between legitimate operational needs and overreach that exceeds the easement’s legal scope. We know when pipeline companies are relying on “industry practice” rather than enforceable rights—and how to push back effectively.
The Shore Firm represents landowners in easement disputes involving:
- Use beyond the scope of the original grant
- Unauthorized additional lines or facilities
- Interference with farming, development, or access
- Failure to restore or properly maintain the surface
- Damage to property, timber, roads, or improvements
Our goal is to ensure that landowners retain control over their property and are fairly compensated when easement holders overstep their bounds.
Protect My Rights
Pipeline Abandonment & Non-Use
Many pipeline easements in Texas are limited in duration or conditioned on continued use for a specified purpose. When pipelines are abandoned, unused, or repurposed without authority, the easement may terminate—freeing the land from the burden entirely. These issues are often overlooked, even though they can significantly affect property value, development potential, and marketability of title.
The Shore Firm has extensive experience evaluating pipeline abandonment and non-use claims, including easements that have sat dormant for years or decades. Drawing on Kenneth Shore’s operational background, we know how to investigate whether a line is truly active, temporarily idle, or functionally abandoned—despite claims to the contrary.
We assist landowners with:
- Determining whether an easement has terminated due to abandonment or non-use
- Quiet title actions to remove expired or invalid easements
- Disputes over plugging, removal, or surface restoration obligations
- Preventing unauthorized reactivation or repurposing of old lines
- Clearing title to allow development, sale, or refinancing
Pipeline companies often resist acknowledging abandonment because of the leverage easements provide. The Shore Firm is prepared to challenge those positions and pursue relief aggressively when the facts and law support termination.
Landowners deserve clarity, control, and accountability. The Shore Firm works to ensure that easements burden your land only to the extent the law allows.
