2010 Peoples Oil and Gas Summit Final Agenda

Summit Opens

Welcome and Introductions — Nadia Steinzor, Marcellus Organizer, EARTHWORKS Oil and Gas Accountability Project (OGAP) and Doug Shields, Pittsburgh City Councilman and sponsor of the recently passed ban on drilling within the City of Pittsburgh.

Opening Remarks — Gwen Lachelt, Director, EARTHWORKS OGAP

Summit Overview — Jim Fitzgerald, Summit Facilitator (view bio)

Panel 1: Health impacts from drilling, fracking, waste pits and gas production

Panelists will share real-life stories of health impacts being felt by citizens living with gas development, information on drilling and fracking chemicals known to have health impacts, as well as approaches for surveying community health impacts.

Facilitator: Sharon Wilson, EARTHWORKS Texas OGAP
(presentations are linked after each speaker's name)

• John Fenton — health impacts in Pavillion, WY
• Lisa Parr — health impacts in the Barnett Shale, TX
• Wilma Subra — health surveys from TX and WY
• Dr. Theo Colborn (The Endocrine Disruption Exchange – TEDX) — chemicals and health impacts

Video of Panel 1.

View speaker bios.

View additional information

• Read Poisoned families: four case studies of the impacts of dirty drilling in the Barnett Shale, by Sharon Wilson (TX OGAP)
• Find out about the Pavillion Area Concerned Citizens and the results of the Community Health Survey in Pavillion, Wyoming.
• Download the Health Survey used by Wilma Subra in DISH, TX, and the report Health Survey Results of Current and Former DISH/Clark, Texas Residents.
• Read TEDX's manuscript Natural Gas Operations from a Public Health Perspective, which has been accepted for publication in the International Journal of Human and Ecological Risk Assessment, a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

Break

Panel 2: Community socio-economic impacts of natural gas development

This session will include information on the range of socio-economic impacts and benefits that have been felt in communities already affected by natural gas drilling and production, as well as strategies that can be taken to reduce socio-economic impacts in communities.

Facilitator: Kari Matsko, Northeast Ohio Gas Accountability Project
(presentations are linked with each speaker's name)

• Jill Morrison, Powder River Basin Resource Council, WY
• Stephanie Hallowich, Hickory, Pennsylvania
• Jannette Barth, PhD. Economist, NY
• Chris Mehl, Headwaters Economics

Video of Panel 2.

View speaker bios.

View additional information

• National Geographic article featuring Steph Hallowich: A dream dashed by the rush on gas.
• Pike County Courier article: Houses For Shale: New mortgages unavailable for properties with gas drilling leases.
• Energy and the West a series of reports by Headwater Economics that includes: Impacts of Energy Development in Wyoming, with a Case Study of Sweetwater County, Impact of Energy Development in Colorado, with a Case Study of Mesa and Garfield Counties, a critical look at Fossil Fuel Extraction as a County Economic Development Strategy, an examination of tax policies and Energy Revenue in the Intermountain West (1 MB report) and four other reports.
• Unanswered Questions About The Economic Impact of Gas Drilling In the Marcellus Shale: Don't Jump to Conclusions. (J.M.Barth)

Lunch Keynote: Joseph Heath, General Counsel for the Onondaga Nation and Jeanne Shenandoah, Onondaga Nation (view speaker bios)

Panel 3: Strategies for reducing community and environmental impacts

This panel will discuss approaches for protecting communities, watersheds and wildlands from the harmful impacts related to gas development.

Facilitator: Gwen Lachelt, Earthworks' Oil and Gas Accountability Project

• Ben Price, Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, PA
• Erik Schlenker-Goodrich, Western Environmental Law Center, NM
• Jordan Yeager, Nockamixon Township, PA (and a zoning map used in presentation)
• Josh Joswick, San Juan Citizens Alliance, CO
• Helen Slottje, Tompkins County, NY
• Wes Gillingham, Catskill Mountain Keeper, NY

Video of panel 3.

View speaker bios.

View additional information

• Read the CELDF press release “Pittsburgh Bans Natural Gas Drilling” (Nov. 16), and view a copy of Pittsburgh's Community Protection from Natural Gas Extraction Ordinance, which was drafted by CELDF and Councilman Doug Shields
• Find out about the federal prohibition of drilling and mining in the Valle Vidal area of New Mexico.
• e-handouts related to Jordan Yeager's presentation: Nockamixon Gas Drilling Ordinance, MPC603 Zoning Ordinance, DRBC Hearing Request, First Amended Notice of Appeal, Range Res. vs. Salem Township, Arbor vs. Nockamixon, and Huntley vs. Oakmount
• Excerpts from La Plata County's Oil and Gas Regulations
• OGAP's model county regulations for CO, NM and MT

Break

Panel 3: Community Strategies Panel continued

Panel 4: When the landman comes knocking – strategic options for individuals and communities

This panel will address some of the options available to landowners and mineral owners related to leasing, surface use agreements, pipelines and forced pooling.

Facilitator: Bruce Baizel, EARTHWORKS

• Ellen Harrison, FLEASED
• Terry Fitzgerald, CO landowner
• David McMahon, WV Surface Owners' Rights Organization
• Deborah Goldberg, Earthjustice

Video of panel 4.

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View additional information

• Read some background on Terry's struggles with the industry.
• Find out What Surface Owners Should Know When a Landman Wants To Put a Pipeline Across Your Land (by Dave McMahon)

Evening Reception Hors d'oeuvres and a cash bar/music by Janet Burgan, singer-songwriter

Dinner

Keynote Presentation — Lois Gibbs (view bio)

Optional Evening Workshops

“Working with the news media: learning to think like a reporter.” Participants will discuss what makes a story, the care and feeding of journalists, how to craft messages that make news, and get on-camera practice in delivering messages. Bill Walker, Senior Communications Advisor, EARTHWORKS (view bio)

“The Community-Rights Strategy to Ban Fracking in Your Municipality” (as seen in Pittsburgh), Ben Price, Projects Director, Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (view bio)

Screening of Gasland

Welcome

Panel 5: Web-based tools for information sharing and documentation

These panelists will provide information on some web-based tools for sharing information and data, as well as innovative ways to present and package information.

Facilitator: Alan Septoff, EARTHWORKS

• The view from above – John Amos, Skytruth
• FracTracker — Samantha Malone and Chuck Christen, Center for Healthy Environment and Communities, University of Pittsburgh
• ExtrAct tools — Chris Csikszentmihalyi, Center for Future Civic Media, MIT

Video of panel 5.

View speaker bios.

View additional information, and check out these web sites

• Visit the SkyTruth web site and check out their Oil Spill Tracker Project
• Visit the FracTracker site, and if you'd like to follow along on your laptop during their presentation please register with FracTracker before the Summit. This FracTracker handout, tells you more about FracTracker and how to register.
• Familiarize yourself with the MIT extrAct tools: WellWatch (Watch the how-to video for WellWatch), Landman Report Card (Watch the how-to video for LRC), and their News Positioning System (Watch the how-to video for NPS).

Break

Panel 6: Citizen-based monitoring approaches

This panel provides ideas and tools for citizens who want to collect baseline data on air and water quality or find out more about the contaminants in their communities.

Facilitator: Deb Thomas, Powder River Basin Resource Council

Video of panel 6.

View speaker bios.

• Assessing air toxics from hydraulic fracturing flowback and produced water – Dr. Dan Volz, Center for Healthy Environment and Communities, Univ. of Pittsburgh
• Community air monitoring approaches — Wilma Subra
• Environmental testing in low-income communities – Calvin Tillman, mayor of DISH
• Drinking water monitoring — Roy Martin, Downstream Strategies
• Surface water monitoring — Julie Vastine, Dickinson College

Lunch Keynote: Wes Wilson, EPA whistleblower: fracking impacts and regulations. (view bio)

Panel 7: Emerging issues related to natural gas and energy in the U.S.

This session presents some of the issues related to natural gas that have the potential to affect the pace and scale of natural gas development in the United States.

Facilitator: Dan Randolph, EARTHWORKS

• Lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions from natural gas — Dr. Bob Howarth, Cornell
• Shale gas supply estimates — Deborah Rogers, financial analyst
• LNG development and US natural gas exports — Monica Vaughan, Pacific Environment
• Transitioning away from coal — Richard Ward, Energy Future Coalition of UN Foundation
• Moving beyond fossil fuels — alternative energy options – Tony Dutzik, Frontier Research

Video of panel 7.

View speaker bios.

View additional information

• Robert Howarth's recently released paper Assessment of the Greenhouse Gas Footprint of Natural Gas from Shale Formations Obtained by High-Volume, Slick-Water Hydraulic Fracturing (Nov. 15, 2010)

Break

Next Steps (How do we support each other and move our issues?)

This final session will provide participants with the opportunity to break into small groups and discuss strategies to help us in our work (e.g., techniques for getting out our messages; strategies to increase protections at the federal level, ideas on how to support local and state initiatives, and other strategies).

Evening Reception

Hors d'oeuvres and a cash bar

Dinner

Keynote Speaker: Josh Fox, Gasland filmmaker

Josh will be joining us via Skype, live from Australia.

Summit Wrap-up: Jim Fitzgerald

Music – Mon River Ramblers (CONFIRMED)/Social time