(225 ILCS 725/19.5) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 5430)
Sec. 19.5.
Any person who had no obligation to plug, replug or repair
the well or restore the site of any well, but who does so under the
provisions of this Act, including the Department under Section 19.6 of this
Act, shall have a cause of action against the person or persons who by law
were obligated to properly plug, replug or repair the well for the
reasonable cost and expense incurred in plugging, replugging or repairing
the well, and shall have a lien enforceable upon the interest of such
obligated person or persons in and to the oil and gas rights in the land
and equipment located thereon to the extent of such reasonable cost and
expense. The lien created by this Section shall not, however, affect the
rights of any purchaser, mortgagee, judgment creditor or other lien holder
arising prior to the filing of a notice of such lien in the office of the
recorder of the county in which the real estate on which the well is
located is situated, or in the office of the registrar of titles of such
county if that real estate is registered under "An Act concerning land
titles" approved May 1, 1897, as amended; which notice shall definitely
describe the real estate and property involved, the nature and extent of
the lien claimed, and the facts upon which the same is based.
In the case of orphan wells, the State of Illinois, by and through the
Department, shall have a lien for all fees due and for all funds expended
by the Department to plug, replug, repair or restore the site of the orphan
well upon the interest of all owners and all the interest of the operator
of the orphan well or wells for which such fees are due and unpaid or for
which such funds are expended. The lien shall extend to the entire owners'
and operator's interest in the wells and to all equipment used in
connection with the operating of such wells as to the entire acreage
included in the drilling unit or units. The lien created in the case of an
orphan well shall be prior and superior to any mortgage or other lien
except for the lien of local property taxes.
The Oil and Gas Lien Act of 1989 shall apply and be applicable to the
perfection and foreclosure of all liens under this Section.
(Source: P.A. 87-744.)
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