HARRISBURG, PA — Gov. Tom Corbett and Sen. Gene Yaw are both calling on Attorney General Kathleen Kane to investigate gas lease payments to residents from Chesapeake Energy.

On February 13, Yaw wrote to Kane to say that a serious issue has arisen regarding royalty payments. He said the questions were about “post-production costs” deducted from royalty payments, which, he said, are not being deducted by any other gas drilling companies.

On the same day, Corbett sent a letter to Doug Lawler, president and CEO of Chesapeake, and said, “As you know, for some time I have received complaints from my constituents and your leaseholders regarding practices of Chesapeake Energy, which strike many as unfair and perhaps illegal. Deductions of post-production costs, in a manner which seemingly few if any other operators in Pennsylvania utilize, has caused a significant erosion of the trust and goodwill the natural gas industry has established with Pennsylvania.”

He also wrote, “The Pennsylvania General Assembly is currently considering several pieces of legislation aimed at better protecting the rights of our landowners, particularly with respect to fair treatment of royalty payments.”