Here's a tentative schedule for our study tour. Things may change as we go along, but for now here is what we expect:
DAY ONE
Problems and the Rebirth of the American Energy Industry
Advancements in oil and gas drilling, specifically hydraulic fracturing, have rejuvenated old American wells and brought vast reserves of fuel, once locked in shale, into play. Some say the boom will be our bridge to improved emissions and renewable fuels. Others contend environmental concerns may call for putting the brakes on the boom.
Scott Perry – deputy secretary, office of oil and gas management, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
Nels Johnson – deputy state director, The Nature Conservancy, Pennsylvania chapter
DAY TWO
A Brief History of a World-Changing Fuel
In 1859, Edwin L. Drake drilled a hole just over 69 feet into the ground beside Oil
Creek. It was the first oil well ever drilled in North America and, quite literally, birthed an industry that reinvented life as we know it. The rush for oil was on in Pennsylvania and, soon, all over the world - a pursuit that continues in
a more advanced form today.
After a quick self-guided tour of the grounds, participants settle in for some history and drilling lessons.
Sheri Hamilton, historian/executive director, Friends of Drake Well
Shale 101: The Art of Hydraulic Fracturing
It took decades for pioneering engineers to push the boundaries of drilling, but horizontal wells and hydraulic fractures are now commonplace tricks of the trade. We’ll discuss how natural gas extraction gets done in 2014.
James “Jim” Ladlee, associate director, Penn State University Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research
Drilling on Public Lands: Surface Vs. Subsurface Rights and Managing a Resource for Multiple Users
The Allegheny National Forest is home to black bear, hardwood forests and nearly 12,000 oil wells. Dating back to an early 1900s case involving a Texas landowner, U.S. courts have generally placed the owners of subsurface mineral rights ahead of those holding “only” the surface rights to the land they live on. More and more, states are turning to lucrative oil and gas leases on public lands to fill their coffers. The result is places like the ANF, where 93% of the mineral rights are in industry hands, and managers have only one option – coexist. We’ll discuss how a land is managed for different and sometimes conflicting purposes on both national and state lands, as well as how oil companies, resource managers, and environmentalists are all trying to get along.
Paul Weese, oil, gas and minerals program manager, Allegheny National Forest
Nadine Pollock, ecosystems staff manager, Allegheny National Forest
Teddy Borawski Jr., program manager, subsurface programs, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
Kirk Johnson, executive director, Friends of Allegheny Wilderness
Drilling for Oil in the 21st Century
For more than a century, Seneca Resources has served as the production and exploration arm of National Fuel Gas Company. Today, the company holds about 800,000 acres and operates nearly 3,000 wells in Pennsylvania’s shale play. Today, larger pads with multiple wells are being built to get at oil and gas that lies far below the fuel that spurred the shallow well boom several decades ago. Participants tour a working well pad actively searching for Marcellus shale.
Doug Kepler, VP of environmental engineering, Seneca Resources
Dale Rowekamp, VP of land and marketing, Seneca Resources
Rob Boulware, director of communications, Seneca Resources
Drilling superintendent, TBD, Seneca Resources
DAY THREE
Taking Out the Trash: “Frack” Waste, Landfills, and Radioactive Drill Cuttings
A bill recently introduced to the New York State Senate is calling for change in the classification of drill cuttings and other hydraulic fracturing waste in order to place more stringent demands on its disposal. Supporters argue that “frack” waste isn’t simply “Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material” (NORM), but “Technologically Enhanced” or TENORM, which would require more specialized testing, treatment and disposal. Currently, hundreds of millions of pounds of Pennsylvania drilling waste are residing in New York landfills. Industry and many waste management representatives say human and environmental health is already being protected by current disposal practices.
Larry Shilling, regional V.P., Casella Waste Systems
Bill Kappel, hydrogeologist emeritus, US Geological Survey, New York Water Science Center
Concerned Citizens Force the Fracking Issue
One common story in the current oil and gas boom in America is local citizens taking action where they feel state and federal regulators are lacking. Nowhere has this been as pronounced as New York, where dozens of municipalities have passed laws banning hydraulic fracturing and the state currently has a moratorium on the current method of getting oil and gas from deep deposits like the Marcellus. But that doesn’t mean the state isn’t dealing with by-products of the boom. The Concerned Citizens of Cattaraugus County, among others, are concerned about the disposal of drilling waste - claiming that they have tested the waters draining the Hyland Landfill near Angelica, N.Y., and found radiation levels that exceed “safe exposure” recommendations set by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. We’ll talk with the group about their concerns and proposed solutions.
Gary Abraham, environmental attorney/founder, Concerned Citizens of Cattaraugus County
Tom Barber, water sentinel, Concerned Citizens of Cattaraugus County
Barry Miller, water sentinel, Concerned Citizens of Cattaraugus County
Coal’s Fortunes Sink as Natural Gas Rises: The Economics of Major Change
The rise of hydraulic fracturing and the fortunes being made in the hunt for natural gas have completely restructured America’s energy infrastructure. We’ll settle in on the shores of Lake Erie at City Pier, offering a view of the Dunkirk Power Plant, which is currently undergoing the conversion from coal to gas and hear an economist’s point of view about the economics of a boom. Where do the old (coal), the new (natural gas), and the future (renewables) all fit in the bigger picture?
Peter Reinelt, chair, Department of Economics, SUNY-Fredonia
DAY FOUR
Canoeing the Cuyahoga: Injection Wells and Concerns over Water Quality and Quantity
Images of the burning Cuyahoga River helped launch a wave of environmental consciousness and the Clean Water Act. Today, encroaching oil and gas infrastructure has again brought concerns over freshwater to the surface. We’ll canoe a segment of the river containing both the water intake pipes for Akron, Ohio, and some deep injection wells storing waste fluid from the hydraulic fracturing process, and talk about safe storage and water concerns.
Jeffery Dick, professor and chair, Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Youngstown State University
Bob Barnett, American Energy Inc.
Kathleen Chandler, commissioner, Portage County
Oil and Gas Regulation in Ohio
Oftentimes in the midst of a natural resource extraction boom, state agencies take the brunt of both regulatory responsibility and citizen frustration. We’ll talk with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources about how the agency regulates and monitors natural gas development in the state and the scope of drilling and oil and gas development in Ohio.
Robert Worstall, deputy chief, ODNR Division of Oil and Gas
Mark Bruce, public information officer, ODNR
Putting NIMBY to the Test: Fracking is in Everyone’s Backyard
The rolling hills of eastern Ohio have borne witness to dramatic change in recent years. Where there were once winding country roads with scant traffic, big rigs and tanker trucks now rumble past trenches awaiting oil pipelines and drilling rigs dotting the hillsides. The rural experience has gone industrial. Some landowners welcome the windfall that drilling leases bring, others would prefer a quieter lifestyle.
Elizabeth Neider, owner, Neider’s Dairy and Sheep Farm
Other Carroll County landowners TBD
Before and After: Citizen Scientists and Environmental Monitoring
A group of citizens in Carroll County is working with the University of Cincinnati to set baselines and monitor conditions throughout the well development process, using cutting edge technology to keep tabs on their new neighbors.
Erin Haynes, assistant professor, department of environmental health University of Cincinnati School of Medicine
Amy Townsend-Small, assistant professor, department of geology and geography, University of Cincinnati
Economic Stimulus or Environmental Headache? Residents React to Oil and Gas
Some see the influx of oil and gas exploration into Carroll County as the cure for a struggling economy and shrinking populace, others see a hit to their quality of life. We’ll talk with city and county officials and residents about their experience with oil and gas in eastern Ohio.
Amy Rutledge, director, Carroll County Chamber of Commerce and Convention and Visitor’s Bureau
Rep, Ohio Department of Transportation
Paul Feezel, director, Carroll County Concerned Citizens
Other Carrol County officials, TBD
DAY FIVE
Getting Oil and Gas to Market
Of course, getting oil and gas out of deep layers of shale and up to the surface is only the first step in feeding U.S. fuel demands. M3 Midstream LLC (Momentum) is a company that serves as the “middleman” – gathering, compressing, treating and processing the oil and gas that other companies pull out of the ground. We’ll tour a fracination plant in Harrison County that is the product of a partnership with Chesapeake Energy Corporation to give us a first-hand view of what happens to oil and gas on its way to market.
Eric Mize, emergency preparedness and public awareness manager, Momentum
Other Momentum representatives, TBD
