In rural Ohio, trustees in Poland Township received a proposal this year to lease cemetery mineral rights for $140,000, plus 16 percent of any royalties, for any oil and gas. Similar offers followed at two other area cemeteries.
Opponents say cemeteries shouldn't be disturbed by drilling which will be noisy, smelly and unsightly. Defenders say the drilling is too deep to cause such problems and can generate revenue to enhance the grounds.
The Catholic Cemeteries Association in Pittsburgh also saw benefits to leasing mineral rights under 11 of its cemeteries. The five-year lease, signed in 2008, came to light through news reports in 2010.
You can read more in USA Today at http://goo.gl/RJ3F8.
"Show me the manner in which a nation cares for its dead, and I will measure with mathematical exactness the tender mercies of its people, their respect for the laws of the land and their loyalty to high ideals." - William Gladstone
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