Webinar: Bradford Co., Pa., official to shares tips for shale communication

Webinar highlights county’s effort to manage shale gas development.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — One northcentral Pennsylvania county’s struggle to keep up with the demands of shale-gas development is the subject of a Web-based seminar to be presented by Penn State Extension.

Offered from 1-2 p.m. on Nov. 21, “Bradford County Community Planning: Resources for the Community,” will feature Ray Stolinas, planning director in Bradford County’s Office of Community Planning and Grants.

County’s role

When shale exploration and development began in Bradford County, local government was quick to understand the variety of impacts and considerations for the county and the need to keep the community informed of what this would mean for the area, according to Stolinas.

The county provides maps, guides and information for the public, as well as a recently developed community guide.

In the webinar, he will discuss how the county provides this information and what other information can be provided by counties to help educate residents in the face of the shale-gas development onslaught.

Webinar series

This webinar is one of a series of monthly, 60-minute sessions presented by Penn State Extension’s Marcellus Education Team at 1 p.m. on Thursdays.

Planned future topics include the following:

• Dec. 19 — “Drilling and Pipeline Cuttings Reclamation,” featuring Averill Rance, vice president of EH&S, and Daniel Mueller, general manager of drilling services for Clean Earth.
• Jan. 16, 2014 — “PA Wilds Design Guide Supplement for Oil and Gas Best Practices,” featuring Jim Weaver, director, Tioga County Planning.
• Feb. 20, 2014 — “A Look at Recent Well Waste and Production,” featuring Dave Yoxtheimer, extension associate, and Matt Henderson, shale gas asset manager, both with the Penn State Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research.
• March 20, 2014 — “A Look at Land and Property Valuations with Shale Development,” featuring Jeffrey Kern, senior appraiser for Resource Technologies Corp.

To participate

Registration for the webinars is not necessary. Participate by logging in to http://meeting.psu.edu/pscems. For more information, contact Carol Loveland at 570-320-4429 or by email at cal24@psu.edu.