CALGARY -- Two Alberta farmers have taken legal action against AlphaBow Energy Ltd. over allegedly delinquent annual lease agreement payments.

According to the class action lawsuit filed by Wilf Kautz on behalf of property owners in Alberta, drilling for oil and gas has resulted in significant damage to his land and the land of others. He says the Calgary-based, privately-owned energy company has failed to provide compensation as outlined in their contract.

"Denying payment of the annual compensation is unfair to all of these farmers and ranchers who have allowed AlphaBow access to their lands for all of these years," said Kautz in a statement. "There are many landowners that I know who have trusted these oil companies to deal with them fairly and now have no idea where to turn for help and feel helpless."

Lawyer Matthew Farrell, who is representing the Kautz and Reinhold families, says it may be the first class-action lawsuit filed against an energy company over delinquent lease payments.

"It's a pretty clear contract," said Farrell. "A deal's a deal."

AlphaBow Energy has not responded to a request for comment from CTV News.

The allegations outlined in the lawsuit have not been tried in court.

With files from The Canadian Press