Hardy Holds Conference on Shale Gas
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
1 October 2010
By Joe Napsha
Joe Hardy, founder of the 84 Lumber Co. homebuilding chain and posh
Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Farmington, has jumped on the Marcellus
shale bandwagon.
Nearly 300 people from the natural gas industry, state and local
government and community leaders attended a two-day event this week
that Hardy intends to be an annual event -- the Marcellus Shale
Conference and Golf Tournament, said Douglas Benns, a spokesman for
Hardy.
Hardy wants to create the Nemacolin Institute, a think tank, to provide
state-of-the-art research and dialogue about Marcellus shale and the
role it plays in energy production, Benns said. No one has been hired
to run the institute, but eventually it will have a small staff that
would work in collaboration with others involved in the shale gas
exploration. Hardy has yet to set a budget for it, Benns said.
The institute would bring together industry executives, policy makers
and environmentalists to review the pros and cons of gas drilling and
production in the state, in a manner that does not harm the
environment, Benns said.
Neither Hardy, who spoke at the event, nor his daughter, Maggie Hardy
Magerko, president and owner of 84 Lumber and Nemacolin Woodlands
Resort, could be reached for comment Thursday.
Those participating in the conference paid varying fees, depending on
whether they attended a Tuesday dinner program where Allegheny
Conference on Community Development CEO Dennis Yablonsky spoke, stayed
at the resort hotel overnight or played golf on the resort's Mystic
Rock course on Wednesday. They were able to join golf pros John Daly,
who was sponsored on the golf tour by 84 Lumber, and Justin Leonard,
who won the 1997 British Open. Yablonsky was not available yesterday.
Proceeds from the event will go to five environmental groups, including
the Community Foundation of Fayette and the Toby Creek Watershed
Association in Elk County, Benns said. The event was not publicly
announced until after it was over, he said.
One high-profile representative of the gas companies, Kathryn Klaber,
executive director of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, did not attend the
event. Klaber said she was not familiar with Hardy's plans for a
research institute.
The natural gas companies that are drilling into the Marcellus shale
reserves across Pennsylvania must do a better job both in safety and in
protecting the air and water resources, state Department of
Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger said he told the group.
If all of the companies operating in the shale reserves, which Hanger
estimated is more than 75, conducted themselves like the top
performers, then violations would be reduced by 80 percent, said
Hanger, who pointed out he did not play golf at the resort.
One natural gas company executive who spoke at the event, Robert C.
Skaggs, CEO of NiSource Inc., the Merrillville, Ind.-based parent of
Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania, said in prepared remarks that the state's
Marcellus shale gas reserves are literally "transforming our country's
energy calculus."
Skaggs said NiSource's transmission and storage business alone plans to
invest about $200 million per year in Marcellus-related projects. "We
must operate in a safe and responsible manner in everything we do,"
Skaggs said.
He is president of the American Gas Association, a trade group.
In addition to Hanger, former Gov. Tom Ridge, who serves as a strategic
adviser to the Marcellus Shale Coalition of natural gas companies,
spoke to the gathering. Ridge could not be reached. His consulting
firms signed a $90,000 one-year contract with the coalition to help
with its public awareness campaign.
Joe Napsha can be reached at jnapsha@tribweb.com or 724-836-5252.