Marcellus Shale - Gas Wells

October 28, 2010

$1 million will fund gas institute

By Steve Mocarsky smocarsky@timesleader.com
Staff Writer
Steve Mocarsky on Facebook   |   @TLSteveMocarsky on Twitter

WILKES-BARRE -- U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski on Monday announced $1 million in federal funding to create an institute focused on researching Marcellus Shale issues to be operated by Wilkes University, King’s College and Earth Conservancy.

At a joint press conference with the presidents of the two schools and Earth Conservancy and a representative of a national lab under contract with the U.S. Department of Energy, Kanjorski, D-Nanticoke, announced the funding to create the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research of Northeast Pennsylvania.

“What it means is that rather than be passive participants here in Northeastern Pennsylvania, we’re going to be hard activists with what happens to Marcellus Shale and the gas resources here,” Kanjorski said.

“It’s very important that all of us think back to the experiences we had in the coal industry. Some of them were good experiences, but many of them were harsh, horrible experiences and we should never relive that trauma in Northeastern Pennsylvania again,” he said.

The institute, which will at least initially be located on the Wilkes campus, will work with water resource research and development, community outreach and public education. It also will be a sort of information clearinghouse and will launch a website in the coming weeks that will eventually contain all data and research results of studies that the institute conducts.

The congressman said he envisioned an energy and environmental research institute for the area two years ago. He met with Wilkes President Tim Gilmour last year to talk about future plans for the university and shared his vision and hope that someone would spearhead the project. Gilmour offered and committed the university’s research and development staff.

Discussions began with King’s President Rev. Tom O’Hara and Earth Conservancy President/CEO Mike Dziak, and in April, Kanjorski arranged a 90-minute meeting including himself, Gilmour, O’Hara, Dziak, Vice President Joe Biden and Energy Secretary Steven Chu in the Roosevelt Room at the White House to discuss the concept.

Since then, the heads of the local organizations worked with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory on the grant. When Kanjorski returned to Washington, he initiated amendments to current law that he expects to be enacted over the next three months or early next year to provide more funding for the institute over the next five years, he said.

“This $1 million is just the first, we hope, of many, many millions of dollars over the next five years that should come in here to provide us with a clearinghouse operation that can be acceptable by all facets of the community as to quality-of-life/environment questions and the best practices to be used in the extraction of the natural gas that’s in our area,” Kanjorski said.

The research center will be broad in scope, Kanjorski said, examining technical things in research and development as well as public policy issues and questions that impact directly on the region and the country.

“Hopefully, it will help us extract in an environmentally sound way the energy that we need for the next century,” Kanjorski said.

John Duda, director of the National Energy Technology Laboratory’s Strategic Center for Natural Gas & Oil, said there are “multiple issues, both real and perceived, that need to be addressed in order to fully develop the Marcellus Shale in the most responsible manner.”

Duda said the lab is responsible for implementing the Department of Energy’s Oil & Gas Research and Development Program, which it does in two ways: by engaging other labs, industry, non-profits and academic institutions to conduct research as part of an extramural program and by conducting on-site research with scientists and engineers.

“We have an arrangement with many different universities, and now Wilkes, King’s and the Earth Conservancy are part of that on-site research organization,” Duda said, calling the institute a “full-fledged partner” in research.

Dziak said Earth Conservancy has worked in the past with Wilkes and King’s on environmental projects. He hopes the land conservation group, which has worked to reclaim mine-scarred land in the area over the past 16 years, can act in an advisory capacity for the institute in areas such as land-use planning and community outreach.

Gilmour and O’Hara said the institute will provide students there with an opportunity for tremendous research experience that will have an important impact on the region and on the country.

Wilkes and King’s will use their academic resources and scientists to provide research and policy papers on natural gas drilling for the institute that will be made available to the public, according to Kanjorski’s office.

“The institute is a response to a vital community need to bring objective and science-based research and information to the critical issues of energy development and water quality that will arise as Marcellus Shale drilling proceeds,” Gilmour said.

Wilkes Professor Ken Klemow, an associate director of the institute, said his team will be conducting a water-quality assessment of streams in the area and collaborate with the Susquehanna River Basin Commission. A website for information distribution is under construction, he said, adding that a goal is to gather input from members of the community.

Dale Bruns, dean of science and engineering at Wilkes, said his department will focus on best practices and problem solving. He said the partnership with the Energy Departmentwill help provide several great career paths for students.

Tweet	Follow @TLnews

Send Question or Remark to the Publisher