Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Matney Named EMLS Treasurer




        The Energy & Mineral Law Society welcomes Matthew Matney as Treasurer for the 2013-2014 academic year. Matney is from Williamson, West Virginia, and graduated from Marshal University with a B.S. in Criminal Justice in 2010. Among his most important duties is managing membership records for the EMLS.

        Before coming to the Appalachian School of Law in 2012, Matney spent two years working for the Norfolk-Southern Railroad. His time working as a conductor on trains hauling coal, along with his experience growing up in the heart of the West Virginia coalfields, sparked his interest in energy and mineral law. Matney is also a volunteer with the Appalachian School of Law’s mentorship program, and an active member of organizations including Phi Delta Phi (a legal honorary society), the Environmental Law Society, and the Grundy Lions Club. For questions or to get involved, you can reach him at MMatney15@my.asl.edu
 

Morehead Native Named Secretary of EMLS




       
The Energy & Mineral Law Society welcomes Staci Shelton Montgomery as Secretary for the 2013-2014 year.  Ms. Shelton Montgomery is from Morehead, Kentucky, and intends to return there to practice law. She will be organizing various events throughout the year, including the Arbor Day event in 2014.  For questions or to get involved, Staci can be reached at sshelton15@my.asl.edu. You can also connect with Staci on LinkedIn by using the tab at the right of the screen.

 


        Staci graduated from Maysville Community College in 2002 with a degree in nursing and Morehead State University with a bachelor’s degree in Criminology in 2012.  She has over 11 years of work experiencs in insurance, healthcare and academia.  Staci is very active on the campus of the Appalachian School of Law and will concurrently serve as Vice President of VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program), as Vice President of Education for Toastmasters and as an active member in several other student organizations.  Staci has been selected as the 2L Ambassador for the Appalachian School of Law and is a volunteer in the ASL mentoring program.





 


Thursday, April 25, 2013

Matthew Hardin heads Federalist Society

Matt Hardin wears many hats. Most recently, he was selected as President of the Federalist Society at the Appalachian School of Law, and as Vice Chair for the law school's national moot court program. He remains president of the Energy & Mineral Law Society, and won't be giving up his advocacy on energy issues.

"I'm from Kentucky," Hardin said, "and I understand what it's like in the coalfields right now. That will always be important to me. I hope my new role in the Federalist Society will allow me to bring more national attention to conservative solutions here in Appalachia."

EMLS Welcomes Sabrina Mullins



Sabrina Mullins has been selected as the Energy & Mineral Law Society's new Treasurer. Sabrina is a rising 2L at the Appalachian School of Law, originally from Prestonsburg, Kentucky.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

EMLS on the Rise




EMLS Secretary Tori Herman has been selected as Editor-in-Chief for Volume VIII of the Appalachian Natural Resources Law Journal.













EMLS Treasurer Sherra Kissee has been selected as Managing Editor for Volume VIII of the Appalachian Natural Resources Law Journal.
EMLS President Matt Hardin remains on the editorial board of both the Appalachian Journal of Law and the Appalachian Natural Resources Law Journal. Look for his most recent article in next month's edition of the Appalachian Journal of Law.

Monday, March 18, 2013

Black Lung CLE

On March 16, the Energy & Mineral Law Society hosted the First Annual Black Lung Conference at the Appalachian School of Law. Thirty-eight attorneys from four states and dozens of law firms were in attendance. Both the plaintiff's and defense bar were represented, along with one judge and a physician.
Special thanks go out to the EMLS members who helped make the event such a success. Lauren Shadrick (far left), and Misti Napier-Burton (second from left) helped attorneys checking in for the daylong program. Sherra Kissee (second from right) was instrumental in compiling the written materials that the attorneys received. Dominique Ranieri (far right) is editor-in-chief of the Appalachian Natural Resources Law Journal.

Sherri Brown Keller, managing partner in the firm of Fogle Keller Purdy, PLLC, is pictured here receiving a certificate of appreciation for her work as a program instructor. Dean Lucy McGough (left) and President Matt Hardin (right) presented the award.



Friday, February 22, 2013

Colorado Governor Drinks Fracking Fluid

The Washington Times reports that Democratic Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper drank a class of fracking fluid at a meeting in Colorado. The ingredients were so safe, that the governor had no qualms about downing a glass of the fluid, which is used to liberate oil and gas from rock formations.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013


          EMLS President Matthew Hardin has been selected as an editor for the Appalachian Natural Resources Law Journal (ANRLJ). The ANRLJ is a peer-reviewed journal published deep in the heart of the Appalachian coalfields, and is primarily devoted to topics relating to energy development and natural resources.  Hardin joins EMLS Secretary Tori Herman and EMLS Treasurer Sherra Kissee on the journal's editorial Board.

Saturday, February 2, 2013

EMLS Officers Receive Academic Honors

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Two Energy & Mineral Law Society officers have recently been named to the Dean's List at the Appalachian School of Law. The Dean's list is reserved for students ranked in the top 25% of the law school class.

President Matt Hardin and Vice President Westley Ketron were among the students honored for academic excellence at the conclusion of the Fall 2012 semester. Both Ketron and Hardin are also currently serving as editors for the Appalachian Journal of Law. Ketron recently accepted a clerkship with the Virginia Supreme Court, and looks forward to working in Richmond this summer.

EMLS President to be Published in Appalachian Journal of Law

     Energy & Mineral Law Society President Matthew Hardin has received notice that an article he wrote over the past several months will soon be published in the Appalachian Journal of Law. Look for his article, "Three Evidentiary Approaches to Party 'Admissions' by Experts" later this spring. The article will be of particular interest for attorneys and corporate officials who are considering the use of outside experts in the context of litigation.

     Matthew Hardin is from rural Kentucky, and received his B.A. from Transylvania University in 2011. He is a J.D. candidate at the Appalachian School of Law in Grundy, Virginia, where he is currently ranked second in the Class of 2014.


Friday, November 23, 2012

EMLS Fracking Forum

Last Friday, the EMLS sponsored a live simulcast of a forum on hydraulic fracturing at the Appalachian School of Law. The forum was held at Case Western University, and featured some of the best legal minds from throughout the country. (Click here for more information about the forum.)

EMLS members and other students from the Appalachian School of Law provided some interesting onservations on the current state of the law. Some of the more interesting student observations are below, along with commentary from EMLS President Matthew Hardin:

"One of the things that surprised me in the seminar was the fact that in Washington County, Pa., property values have increased where fracking is taking place..."
              -Misti Napier-Burton, 2nd year law student from West Virginia

President Hardin responds: Hydraulic Fracturing provides economic benefits for property owners. Royalties are paid to property owners, usually based on the volume of natural gas produced from the wells. This payment system incentivizes production while encouraging the energy industry to eliminate any possibility for leaks. The environmental risks of fracking involve the possibility of fluids or gases escaping from the well casing, but everyone involved in the process has strong financial incentives to maintain well integrity. Hydraulic fracturing benefits everyone. Landowners see royalty payments and increased property values, energy companies make a profit and hire additional workers, and the US becomes more energy independent every day due to this technology.

"Could you explain to me how fracking will eliminate nuclear plants, as the opening speaker stated?"
              -Sherra Kissee, 2nd year law student from Missouri
, EMLS Treasurer

President Hardin responds: Fracking has driven the price of natural gas down. Nuclear power was already among the most expensive means of energy production, prior to the natural gas boom which is now underway across the United States. Twenty years ago, some energy analysts predicted that natural gas prices would skyrocket and nuclear power would become an economical option for power generation. Exactly the opposite has occured. Natural gas is cheaper and safer than nuclear power. The last nuclear power plant in the U.S. opened in 1974, and it is difficult to imagine another being built in the coming years due to both economic and political factors. Why build a nuclear plant when clean-burning natural gas is abundant and cheap?

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

EMLS Tours Underground Mine


On October 15, law students and EMLS benefactors toured the Hubble Mine at Feds Creek, Ky. This mine opened slightly over a year ago, and is expected to remain open for the next twenty years, extracting high-grade metallurgical coal.




The students were decked out in coveralls and steel-toed boots for the tour, and TECO provided training on the hazards of underground mining. The Energy & Mineral Law Society's tour was led by two of TECO's engineers, who explained in detail how coal from the Hubble Mine is extracted, processed, and eventually sold on the market to producers of steel and other metals. At left, EMLS students are examining maps and technical diagrams of the Hubble Mine. TECO engineers explained how to interpret the mine schematics and discussed what it takes to create a safe working environment underground.



 The Energy & Mineral Law Society would like to thank TECO for sharing their workspace with us for the day. We enjoyed spending an afternoon underground and learning what it takes to keep American industry strong.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

EMLS Tours Surface Mines

The following is a guest post written by one of the students in attendance at the Energy & Mineral Law Society's recent surface mining tour. All photographs are courtesy of Tori Herman.
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On Monday, TECO coal hosted a tour of 2 surface mines for the EMLS, its members, and interested community members. One of the mines we toured was an active mine and the second was a fully reclaimed mine that had been reclaimed using the Forestry Reclamation Approach (FRA) in 2009. First, we toured the reclaimed mine. Even though it was raining and muddy, I was surprised at how clean the entire area was at first. The roads were well-maintained as we entered and climbed to the top of the first ridge. From the ridgeline, our company guides explained that we were looking across the mine area. In the distance we could see areas that were still in the process of being reclaimed by the company. Even those areas, however, appeared clean -cleaner than most construction sites I've seen. The land in the reclaimed area was well-maintained and planted with various trees. It had the look of a large park instead of a former coal mine.

As we drove to the open mine, we stopped and saw a sediment pond being removed. Our hosts explained that as the mines were in operation, the ponds were necessary to keep the soil from washing away in the rivers. As the areas were being reclaimed, the ponds had to be removed and the streams restored to their natural state. Indeed, all of the property was to be returned to its original state as far as possible. Our guides explained that in many cases, it coal companies can create areas on private owners property that actually raise their property values. Depending on the owners' desires, reclamation has incorporated land uses from hardwood forests, to farmland, to orchards, to golf courses. If the pre-mining land use was as a forest and the land is not going to be used for anything else in the future, then it is returned to a natural state, complete with native hardwoods. The days when "reclamation" involved sowing ground with grass seed and a high number of locust trees are long gone.

The active mine site was also very impressive. The area was clean and well-maintained by TECO. We drove to the top of a ridge where the bulldozers were scraping coal from the ground, but even this area was impressively clean. Chris, one of our company guides, explained that the reason the mine looked so clean was that that reclamation takes place almost immediately after mining is complete in each section of the mine, Each section is reclaimed as soon as possible. As bulldozers remove the coal, others go behind and clean up the land, readying it for the planting that will come at the end. It was wonderful to see how TECO coal recognizes a responsibility to the land and the people that will use it once they are done mining.

Friday, September 7, 2012

Conservative Visions of Our Environmental Future

The Energy & Mineral Law Society will be attending a conference entitled "Conservative Visions of Our Environmental Future" on September 24, 2012. The conference will be held at the Duke University School of Law, and we look forward to hearing regulators, practicing attorneys, and academics discuss how environmental goals can be achieved within the framework of conservative political thought.

For more information on the conference, the presenters, and the conservative environmental vision, click here.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Victoria Herman Elected EMLS Secretary

Victoria Herman, a Tennessee native, has been elected secretary of the Energy & Mineral Law Society. Ms. Herman is an alumna of Middle Tennessee State University and is currently a J.D. candidate at the Appalachian School of Law in Grundy, Virginia. She also serves as an Associate Editor for the Appalachian Natural Resources Law Journal.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

EMLS Secretary/Treasurer Selected as Editor for Appalachian Natural Resources Law Journal

The Energy & Mineral Law Society congratulates Sherra Kissee on her selection as a member of the editorial staff at the Appalachian Natural Resources Law Journal.

The Appalachian Natural Resources Law Journal publishes articles written by students, practitioners, and tenured academics about the legal environment of mining in Appalachia and beyond. For more information, visit the journal's website: www.anrlj.com.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

EMLS Officers Selected as Editors for Appalachian Journal of Law

Two EMLS officers have been selected as associate editors for the Appalachian Journal of Law. The competition for editing positions on the journal was intense, but both Matt Hardin and Westley Ketron were chosen to serve on the editing staff for 2012-2013. Both Ketron and Hardin will be writing publishable student notes over the coming academic year, and look forward to contributing to the academic conversation on legal and policy concerns in the mining industry. Each of these new editors has past experience with the mining industry; Ketron served this summer as a law clerk for Alpha Natural Resources, and Hardin as a clerk for Fogle Keller Purdy, PLLC, a Kentucky defense firm which frequently represents coal mining interests.

Next week, the Appalachian Natural Resources Law Journal will be making its selections. Check this blog to find out which EMLS members were selected as editors for that publication, which specializes in articles dealing with energy issues in Appalachia.

Friday, August 17, 2012

EMLS featured on Coal Blog



The Energy & Mineral Law Society is pleased to announce that it has been featured on the CoalBlog, a blog hosted by the American Coal Council. You can view the CoalBlog post here.

The EMLS is a proud member of the American Coal Council, and supports the council's mission to "advance the power, the promise & the pride of America’s coal industry."

The Energy & Mineral Law Society is also engaged with other organizations working to secure a place for coal in America's energy future. The EMLS, either collectively or through its officers, also proudly supports groups such as the Virginia Mining Association, the Energy Bar Association, the Kentucky Mining Institute, the Illinois Mining Institute, the Energy & Mineral Law Foundation (EMLF), and the Defense Research Institute. Working together, we hope to educate both the bar and the public about problems facing the industry, as well as to promote possible solutions.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Touring the Ore Mining Areas of Upper Michigan

      EMLS president Matt Hardin spent the past week touring mine sites in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. To the left is an old mine shaft in the Keweenaw Peninsula, used to extract copper ore. This particular mine has been exhausted and is now used as an exhibition mine.
To the right is a photo of a surface mining operation in progress. This photo is several years old and the mine land has now been reclaimed. A photograph of this site as it stands today is virtually indistinguishable from the surrounding forestland.
To the left is the portal at the new Eagle mine, operated by Rio Tinto subsidiary Kennecott Eagle. The mine is located several miles north of Ishpeming, Michigan. This mine is entirely underground, and will be backfilled as mining is underway. Kennecott plans to harvest both iron and nickel ore once the mine is fully operational.