Temple Law Students Publish Influential Article in Environmental Law Reporter

December 2, 2011 – Third year students Brigid Landy and Michael Reese have published an influential paper titled Getting to Yes:  A Proposal for a Statutory Approach to Compulsory Pooling in Pennsylvania in the November 2011 issue of the Environmental Law Reporter.  The paper, which proposes a statutory scheme known as compulsory pooling for development of the Marcellus Shale gas play, has become instrumental in the efforts of Penn State geoscience professor Dr. Terry Engelder to answer community concerns about natural gas extraction from the Marcellus Shale and has even made it to the desk of Patrick Henderson, Governor Corbett’s “energy czar.”

Brigid Landy, one of the paper’s co-authors, met Dr. Engelder while working in the Pennsylvania Governor’s Office of General Counsel during the 2011 summer break.  After hearing the professor, who is one of two leading scientific authorities on the potential of the Marcellus Shale, address the Governor’s Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission, Landy approached him and offered a copy of the paper.  Impressed, Dr. Engelder began to involve Landy and co-author Mike Reese in conferences and community events discussing the issue. It was an opportunity, she explains, to “contribute to a discussion among concerned citizens who wanted to understand the issue… I was able to say ‘I am from this area, I have spent a lot of time looking at this issue and, while it sounds very controversial, there are some aspects of the potential legislation that could really benefit landowners.’”

While compulsory pooling legislation is not currently taking center stage in Harrisburg, those who work in the field believe there is a lot of work going on behind the scenes.  Whether the issue is re-introduced in the Spring, as Landy suspects, or at a later time, both she and Reese are proud to have contributed just a bit to an important discussion about Pennsylvania’s – and the country’s – future.