June 19, 2013

10:30AM – 12:00PM Eastern

Hosted by The Horinko Group’s Water Division

Watch a video recap of this webinar.

Overview
John Cruden, President of the Environmental Law Institute (ELI), was the featured presenter of the sixth installment in the Mentoring Environment & Energy Together free webinar series.  Mr. Cruden discussed his diverse career path, which began with many years of military assignments before he became Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Environment and Natural Resources Division at the U.S. Department of Justice.  Mr. Cruden also shared insights about his current role heading up many exciting efforts at ELI.

Moderator

• John Cruden, President of the Environmental Law Institute (ELI)
  John C. Cruden is the fourth President of the Environmental Law Institute (ELI). Mr. Cruden joins ELI from the U.S. Department of Justice, where he served as the Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources Division, a position he had held since 1995. At the Department of Justice, Mr. Cruden supervised all federal civil environmental litigation involving agencies of the United States, and oversaw the Environmental Enforcement Section and Environmental Defense Section. He has personally litigated and led settlement negotiations in numerous environmental cases, many with reported decisions. He has also led Department of Justice delegations to international environmental conferences. Prior to becoming Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Mr. Cruden was Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section.Before joining the Department of Justice, Mr. Cruden was the Chief Legislative Counsel of the Army. After graduating from West Point, Mr. Cruden served in airborne, ranger, and Special Forces units in Germany and Vietnam before attending law school. After working for Justice Stanley Mosk, California Supreme Court, he attended the Army’s Judge Advocate General’s Graduate Course where he was named outstanding graduate. His subsequent military assignments include: criminal prosecutor in Germany; Chief of Litigation Branch, Europe; General Counsel, Nuclear Defense Counsel; Staff Judge Advocate; and Professor, Judge Advocate General’s School, Charlottesville, VA. His military education includes being a Fellow, Army War College and Honor Graduate, Command and General Staff College.Mr. Cruden is a graduate of the United States Military Academy, University of Santa Clara (summa cum laude, 2006 Alumni Special Achievement Award), and University of Virginia (honors). He is a member of the bars of the District of Columbia and California, a number of federal courts, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

May 6, 2013

10:30AM – 12:30PM Eastern

Hosted by The Horinko Group’s Water Division

Watch a video recap of this webinar.
Download a PDF copy of the presentations.

Overview
Mr. Craig Hooks, Assistant Administrator of U.S. EPA’s Office of Administration and Resources Management (OARM), was the featured presenter of the fifth installment in the Mentoring Environment & Energy Together free webinar series. Mr. Hooks discussed his career path, accomplishments, priorities for the Agency and OARM, and offered advice for early career professionals.

Moderator

• Mr. Craig Hooks, Assistant Administrator of U.S. EPA’s Office of Administration and Resources Management (OARM) Craig Hooks currently serves as the Assistant Administrator for the Office of Administration and Resources Management (OARM) at EPA.  On May 13, 2009, he was nominated by President Obama to serve in this role and was confirmed on August 7, 2009.  In this capacity, Mr. Hooks also serves as EPA’s Senior Accountable Official for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act which seeks in part to spur technological advances in science and health and to invest in environmental protection and other infrastructure that will provide long-term economic benefits.  EPA manages over $7 billion in projects and programs that will help achieve these goals, offers resources to help other agencies “green” a much larger set of Recovery investments, and administers environmental laws that will govern Recovery activities. OARM is responsible for governing the agency’s resources management including grants and contracts, human resources and facilities.Prior to joining OARM, Mr. Hooks served as the Director of the Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds (OWOW) within EPA’s Office of Water.  OWOW promotes a watershed approach to manage, protect, and restore the water resources and aquatic ecosystems of the nation’s marine and fresh waters.  Before that, he served as the Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator in the Office of Environmental Information (OEI).  OEI supports the Agency’s mission to protect public health and the environment by integrating quality environmental information to make it useful for informing decisions, improving management, documenting performances, and measuring success. Before joining OEI, Mr. Hooks served as the OWOW Deputy Director.Prior to joining OWOW, he served as the Director of the Federal Facilities Enforcement Office within the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA).  There, he was directly responsible for ensuring that Federal agencies meet multi-billion dollar cleanup commitments which are under EPA’s oversight and comply with environmental law.  Mr. Hooks also served as the Associate Director of the Administration and Resource Management Support Staff within OECA where he managed a wide range of administrative functions.  Mr. Hooks spent two years as Special Assistant to the Assistant Administrators for OARM and OECA.  OECA is responsible for managing a national criminal enforcement, regulatory, site remediation, Federal facilities enforcement and compliance assurance programs, and the Federal activities program responsible for implementing the National Environmental Policy Act.Before joining EPA, Mr. Hooks worked at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as a physical scientist.  Mr. Hooks received a Masters degree in Oceanography from the Texas A and M University in 1987, and a Bachelor’s degree in Zoology from the University of Florida in 1982.  Mr. Hooks is married and the father of three girls.

March 29, 2013

9:30 – 11:30AM Eastern

Hosted by The Horinko Group’s Water Division

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Overview
The Mentoring Environment & Energy Together (MEET) program hosted its fourth webinar discussion on March 29, featuring Rick Muncrief, Senior Vice President of Operations and Resource Development, Continental Resources. Mr. Muncrief discussed Continental’s forward-looking strategy, anticipated future operations, drilling plans, estimated reserves, future production, estimated capital expenditures, projected costs, and the potential of drilling prospects.

Moderator

• Richard E. Muncrief, Senior Vice President of Operations and Resource Development for Continental Resources, Inc.  Mr. Muncrief joined the company in June, 2009 and has over 30 years of upstream and midstream energy experience. In his current role, Mr. Muncrief is responsible for all engineering and operational aspects of the company. Prior to joining Continental he served as President/COO with Quest Midstream Partners, LP in Oklahoma City and was a member of the Board of Directors. From 1980 to 2007, he served in various technical, operational, and leadership capacities with ConocoPhillips, Inc. and its predecessor company Burlington Resources, Mr. Muncrief earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Petroleum Engineering Technology from Oklahoma State University in 1980.

February 20, 2013

9:30 – 11:30AM Eastern

Hosted by The Horinko Group’s Water Division

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Overview

Darren Smith, Environmental Manager with Devon Energy Corporation, is the featured presenter of the third installment in the Mentoring Environment & Energy Together webinar series entitled, Hydraulic Fracturing 102: Addressing Public Concerns Over Hydraulic Fracturing.  In this webinar, Mr. Smith provides industry insight on the challenges and opportunities presented by natural gas extraction.

Moderator

• Darren Smith, Environmental Manager with Devon Energy Corporation Darren Smith began his career in the oil and gas industry as an environmental consultant from 1995 to 1999, providing air quality, remediation, and environmental compliance support to oil and gas E&P companies operating in the Rocky Mountains. He later joined the Santa Fe Snyder Corporation to provide environmental support to Santa Fe’s Rocky Mountain assets as an Environmental Specialist based in Riverton, WY.Mr. Smith joined Devon Energy Corporation in 2000 through the company’s Santa Fe Snyder acquisition and in 2006, accepted the position of Environmental Manager at Devon’s Oklahoma City corporate headquarters. His current role as Policy Manager is to track and influence emerging regulation and design strategy to mitigate business risk and to take advantage of opportunities. Mr. Smith received a B.S. degree with honors in Biology from the University of Western Ontario in 1990 and a M.S. degree in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry from the University of Wyoming in 1995.

January 14, 2013 9:30 – 11:30AM Eastern Hosted by The Horinko Group’s Water Division Watch a video recap of this webinar. Download a PDF copy of the presentations.

Overview As part of the Mentoring Environment & Energy Together project, The Horinko Group hosted a webinar on January 14, 2013 entitled Air: Legal, Regulatory, and Environmental Landscape, presented by Clara Maria Poffenberger, Partner at Bingham in Washington, DC.  In this presentation, Ms. Poffenberger examines the current legal, regulatory, and environmental landscape of air issues within the oil and gas industry. Moderator

• Clara Maria Poffenberger, Partner at Bingham in Washington, DC.Clara Poffenberger’s practice focuses on air quality law, climate change regulation, and environmental issues in the oil and gas industry upstream, downstream and midstream segments. She is a well-known authority on the Clean Air Act and has more than 20 years of experience with U.S. and international environmental law. Clara’s background includes a combination of experience in private practice, government and industry. Before joining Bingham, Clara served ExxonMobil as in-house counsel on environmental and safety law where she advised the company on air regulatory issues and greenhouse gas regulatory issues under the Clean Air Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act and state regulatory developments. Clara provided advice and counseling on air quality and greenhouse gas regulatory legal issues for all ExxonMobil businesses. She supported regulatory advocacy and related industry litigation; provided compliance counseling for new rules, existing rules, permits and consent decrees; and supported enforcement defense matters. Earlier in her career, while at a Washington, D.C., law firm, Clara advised companies from a variety of industries — including energy and power generation, manufacturing, beverage producers, chemical companies, pharmaceutical companies and mining firms — on air quality law, federal enforcement and environmental requirements of Latin American countries. She also developed a client group to monitor environmental legal developments in Latin America. Clara began her career at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) where she was the lead lawyer for enforcement of and compliance guidance concerning Clean Air Act New Source Review programs. She also worked with EPA regional permit engineers, enforcement staff and Department of Justice lawyers leading judicial actions.