When Dave Spigelmyer saw that shale gas development was gaining a long-term foothold in his native Pennsylvania, he moved to found the Marcellus Shale Coalition to ensure rules are in place during the underground product's development.

“We needed to make sure we do this responsibly and safely if we are going to do it for a long time, or we would lose our investment and starve Pennsylvania of the economic opportunities that have now come to fruition,” said Spigelmyer of Cranberry Township.

Formed in 2008, the coalition has 11 executive board members, 40 board members, and 260 association members who represent every facet of the shale gas industry, from fracking, construction and engineering firms to water testing laboratories and stone suppliers.

Heading the coalition's executive board in Spigelmyer, who is its chairman.

A 30-year veteran of the natural gas industry, Spigelmyer began his career in the industry in 1983, when he worked for Natural Fuel Gas in Buffalo in natural gas distribution, pipeline and production.

He moved into government relations regarding the natural gas industry when he accepted a position with the American Gas Association in Washington, D.C. There he worked on legislative and regulatory policy and monitored regulatory issues facing Congress in the mid-1980s.

“It was the tail end of the Carter and beginning of the Reagan years,” Spigelmyer recalled. “There was a moratorium on natural gas, many clean-air modifications were being contemplated by the EPA, and a major trade agreement was in the works between the U.S. and Canada. I worked on that (agreement) significantly.”

He returned to National Fuel in 1988 for three years to act as its New York state government relations representative.

In 1990, Spigelmyer signed on with the Consolidated Natural Gas Transmissions Corp. in Pittsburgh. There he headed the public relations program, which included community, media and government relations.

In 2003, he moved to Equitable Resources of Pittsburgh, where he worked on government relations before joining Chesapeake Energy in 2009. He is the vice president of government relations for the company's eastern division operations, where he is responsible for the state government relations program in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New York, Ohio, Kentucky and Virginia.

Spigelmyer considers his work to form the coalition, with others in the shale gas industry, one of his proudest achievements.

“It's a very vibrant membership that is engaged in the development of responsible operating practices as we continue to build the foundational base for shale gas development in Pennsylvania,” Spigelmyer said.

The coalition's mission is to make sure Pennsylvania has an established program with rules to promote compliant and safe operations.

“I grew up in Dubois, and I'm not unlike those guys who love to hunt and fish,” said Spigelmyer. “It's important that we do this right. Our country is dependent on it.”

In Pennsylvania, Spigelmyer said shale gas development has accounted for new businesses, 200,000 new jobs, $1.8 billion in tax revenue, $400 million in local impact fees in the past 14 months, $500 million in road improvements, and new opportunities for manufacturing.

He said because of shale gas development, natural gas costs less than half of what it did in 2008.

But he said Pennsylvanians need to get used to the idea of drilling for natural gas and its by-products because experts predict that the hundreds of shale gas reservoirs beneath the area could provide enough gas for the next century and beyond.

Spigelmyer said shale gas drilling has decreased U.S. dependence on foreign oil from 57 percent in 2008 to 42 percent now. He said oil and other valuable by-products of shale gas provide inventory in the other markets.

He said the three main benefits of natural gas are economic, because of the jobs and less expensive gas; energy security; and environmental security.

“We get a lot of criticism on the environmental side,” he said, “but natural gas is used in multiple applications, and its benefits are enormous.”

Spigelmyer said natural gas burns off half of the carbon of other fossil fuels, contains no mercury, realizes a dramatic decrease in sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, and gives off no particulates.

“We've seen significant increases in natural gas used for power generation, so there has been a significant reduction in air pollution over the last two years as a result,” he said.

Spigelmyer said while many people are leery of hydrofracturing, there has not been one single case of contamination in Pennsylvania's 65 years of fracking.

He said fracking is a highly regulated technology, and Pennsylvania is second only to Texas in the number of state compliance and inspection officers available to peruse well operations and reports. He said 202 state Department of Environmental Protection officers cover the 53 rigs operating in Pennsylvania.

“I would say we have the most robust regulatory framework of any state in the U.S.,” Spigelmyer said.

<B>Address: </B>Cranberry Township<B>Employment: </B>Vice president of government relations at Chesapeake Energy’s eastern division<B>Education: </B>Pennsylvania State University, bachelor’s degree in public service<B>Family: </B>Wife Francie, who is the vice president of academic affairs for Butler County Community College; son John and daughter Suzanne<B>Outside interests: </B>He serves on the board of directors for the Moraine Trails Council of the Boy Scouts of America, the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, the Magee-Womens Research Institute and Foundation, the Keystone Elk Country Alliance and the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce.<B>Quote: </B>“We needed to make sure we do this responsibly and safely if we are going to do it for a long time, or we would lose our investment and starve Pennsylvania of the economic opportunities that have now come to fruition.”