Mr. Dixon is an associate at Saul Ewing LLP, where he represents clients in matters involving  environmental regulation and litigation, including government enforcement proceedings. He  helps companies navigate federal and state environmental agencies in their effort to obtain  permits to build projects that are regulated by the government or require considerations  involving impacts to the environment. Mr. Dixon formerly served as assistant counsel to the  Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), where he counseled several DEP  programs and represented DEP in litigation proceedings. He also served as assistant counsel to  the Honorable Richard P. Mather, Sr., of the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board (EHB).  In that capacity, he counseled the EHB on complex environmental laws and regulations,  assisted the judges in hearings, and drafted opinions and adjudications. Mr. Dixon received his  BA, with high distinction, from the Pennsylvania State University, and his JD from Widener  University Commonwealth School of Law.

Mr. Burnett is a director with Pittsburgh law firm Houston Harbaugh, P.C.; his practice is exclusively devoted to the representation of landowners and royalty owners in oil and gas matters. He is the Chair of the Firm’s Oil and Gas Practice Group and represents landowners and royalty owners in a wide array of oil and gas matters throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He assists landowners and royalty owners in the negotiation of new oil and gas leases as well as modifications to existing leases. He also negotiates surface use agreements and pipeline right-of-way agreements on behalf of landowners. He also advises and counsels clients on complex lease development and expiration issues, including the impact and effect of delay rental and shut-in clauses, as well as the implied covenants to develop and market oil and gas. He also represents landowners and royalty owners in disputes arising out of the calculation of production royalties and the deduction of post-production costs. Mr. Burnett also assists landowners with oil and gas title issues and develops strategies to resolve and cure such title deficiencies. A prolific author and speaker on numerous oil and gas topics, he is a frequent lecturer at Pennsylvania Bar Institute oil and gas programs and currently serves on the Pennsylvania Bar Institute’s “Oil and Gas Law Advisory Committee.” He is also a contributing author of The Law of Oil and Gas in Pennsylvania (1st Ed. 2014), published by the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, and is a member of the Executive Committee of the Pennsylvania Bar Institute’s premier oil and gas law program, the annual “Oil and Gas Law Colloquium.” He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Landowner’s Alliance and is an active member of its Legislative Committee. He also served on the “Siting and Routing” Workgroup of Governor Wolf’s “Pipeline Infrastructure Task Force” in 2015. He is also a retired officer from the United States Army. Mr. Burnett received his B.A. in political science, with honors, from John Carroll University and his J.D., cum laude, from Duquesne University School of Law. He is admitted to practice in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, and the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. He is BV® Rated, in the Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating System and named a Who’s Who in Energy, Pittsburgh Business Times, 2011-2017. His memberships include the Pennsylvania Bar Association (Shale Energy Law Committee, Civil Litigation Section and Environmental and Energy Law Section); National Association of Royalty Owners; Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Landowner Alliance (Board of Directors); and the Allegheny County Bar Association. 

Heather A. Hurst helps energy companies accomplish their operational and transactional goals. She focuses her practice on commercial and real estate transactions and transition projects within the coal, oil and gas and renewables industries (including solar, wind and renewable fuels). Heather assists industry clients with all stages of acquisition, operation and divestiture of coal, oil and gas, and renewable energy assets and on a variety of mergers and acquisitions, land management, joint venture, commercial and title-related matters in the Appalachian region. She has abstracted and drafted title examination opinions for surface, oil and gas and coal interests. She has experience performing title, site control and commercial due diligence for oil, gas, coal, solar and wind operations and transactions, negotiating leases, options and agreements, and drafting a variety of transactional, commercial and operational instruments and agreements. Her experience also includes negotiating and drafting gas gathering, purchase and sale, service, easements, correlative right agreements and construction agreements. Heather has also represented oil, gas, coal, and renewable owners, operators and companies in real estate closings, transfer, severance and property tax matters, and property, landowner and contract disputes. She has also assisted coal, oil and gas and coal operators in compliance matters related to environmental and safety regulations, including obtaining required permits, conducting compliance audits and analysis representing clients in challenging Mine Safety and Health Administration enforcement proceedings and defending operators in administrative adjudication. Prior to joining Buchanan, Heather represented numerous coal mining operators in Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission proceedings resulting in significant penalty and severity reductions for issued citations and elevated enforcement actions.

Gregory J. Krock is a partner in the Pittsburgh office of McGuireWoods LLP. Greg is an accomplished litigator who represents clients in matters involving the oil and gas, electric utilities, and coal industries. His experience includes litigating contract disputes, unfair competition claims, toxic tort cases, and other business disputes before state, federal, and appellate courts. Greg is well known in the energy market for his expertise litigating disputes which occur throughout the lifecycle of oil and gas production, from access to mineral rights to supply contracts. For example, Greg has litigated royalty and lease disputes with landowners (including bad faith pooling cases), toxic tort claims involving hydraulic fracturing, multi–million dollar contract disputes between drilling companies and their contractors, unfair competition claims against natural gas companies, disagreements involving joint operating agreements, and a myriad of disputes involving the construction and operation of natural gas pipelines. Greg served as lead counsel in the highly–publicized Butler v. Powers mater in which the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled in his client’s favor, thereby preserving the state’s so–called “Dunham Rule” and affirming that natural gas rights are separate from mineral rights in the state. The opinion protected thousands of lease deals between landowners and developers in the state’s Marcellus Shale region. Greg graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where he served on the Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif. He received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (and was elected Phi Beta Kappa). For more information about Greg, please visit https://www.mcguirewoods.com/people/k/gregory-j-krock.

Joel Keller is an Environmental Group Manager for the Office of Oil and Gas Management at the PA Department of Environmental Protection. Prior to this position, he was an Oil and Gas Program Specialist and an Oil and Gas Inspector for the PA Department of Environmental Protection. Before joining the Department, he was a Senior Environmental Technician for URS Corporation and before then, a Staff Scientist for HydroSystems Management Inc. He is a graduate of PennWest California, where he earned a Masters in Geography and Regional Planning. He also earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Resources from Penn West California.

Ms. Kush is an accomplished civil litigator and trial attorney, resolving disputes and driving successful outcomes for business entities, ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. She has 17 years of experience litigating disputes for energy companies, universities, commercial resorts, healthcare institutions, robotics developers, engineering firms, manufacturers, consumer products companies, non-profits and municipalities with broad experience in both state and federal courts, including appellate courts. In particular, she holds significant experience in eminent domain matters, oil and gas litigation and construction litigation. In her eminent domain practice, she has represented both condemnors and condemnees, with extensive expertise relating to rights of way for natural gas pipelines, natural gas storage easements, roadways, sewer easements and other property takings. In the oil and gas industry, she is versed in litigating disputes over lease agreements and rights, property access and use, and environmental contamination claims. She also carries a strong record of success in construction litigation, winning multi-million dollar verdicts in litigation involving construction contract disputes and construction defect litigation. Her professional achievements have been recognized by both the legal and business communities. The Pittsburgh Business Times named Ms. Kush one of the 2018 Women of Influence, and NEXT Pittsburgh featured her as one of the “16 Pittsburghers You Should Know.” She was also recognized as the 2016 Woman of Distinction in Government & Law by Girl Scouts Western Pennsylvania. In addition, she received a 2016 Pennsylvania Senate Citation, awarded by Senator Scott E. Hutchinson of the 21st Senatorial District, recognizing her dedication, excellence and leadership in the legal profession, as well as her impact on the community. She has consistently been named as one of the Pennsylvania Super Lawyers® Rising Stars over the last 5 years (2019 through 2023), and she was named to the Best Lawyers in America in the field of Commercial Litigation. She frequently appears as a legal expert on WPXI’s Pittsburgh Cable News Channel (PCNC), providing commentary on legal cases in the news. She is also an Adjunct Professor at Duquesne University teaching “The Legal Environment” and “Applied Business Ethics” to graduate business students. She has served on the Board of Girl Scouts Western Pennsylvania, Catholic Charities Diocese of Pittsburgh, the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra and the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh. From 2017 – 2019 she was the President of the St. Thomas More Society and remains active on its Board of Governors. She is a graduate of the Florida International University School of Law (JD) and Duquesne University (BS, summa cum laude and valedictorian). She is admitted to practice before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Florida Supreme Court, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Amy Beth Cyphert is an Associate Professor at the West Virginia University College of Law. She is a Morgantown native and a 2001 graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, where she was awarded a Truman Scholarship. Cyphert graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School in 2005 and went on to clerk for the Honorable Laura Taylor Swain in the Southern District of New York. Prior to joining WVU, Cyphert was a senior litigation associate with WilmerHale in New York City, where she focused on complex commercial litigation as well as first amendment pro bono matters. Cyphert developed and teaches courses on Artificial Intelligence and the Law, including Regulating AI. Her recent research has focused on generative artificial intelligence and its impact on the practice of law. She has also written about technology regulation and algorithmic decision making in the criminal justice system. In 2021, Cyphert received the Privacy Papers for Policymakers Award from the Future of Privacy Forum for her article on machine-learning algorithms and online surveillance.

Don Hegburg is a Program Manager and Professional Geologist for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Oil and Gas Program’s Bureau of Planning and Program Management, Subsurface Activities and Well Plugging Division in the Central Office. Don has held this position since February 2023 and is responsible for the development of regulations, policy and guidance for subsurface activities associated with oil and gas development in Pennsylvania, including plugging. Don is the lead manager overseeing the preparation, submission and planning for oil and gas well plugging activities underway in Pennsylvania Federal from awards received through the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act and Inflation Reduction Act. Don previously served as Licensed Professional Geologist Manager for the DEP Oil and Gas Program, Southwest District Operations from 2020 to February 2023. While at the SW District, Don was responsible for orphaned well plugging projects funded by the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act, oversight of stray gas incidents, water supply complaints, and environmental cleanup activities. Don also served as a Licensed Professional Geologist with the DEP Land Recycling Program in the Northwest Region from 1990 to 2020 and was involved with the development of multiple environmental investigation and remediation guidance and has extensive experience overseeing numerous environmental incidents at upstream, midstream and downstream facilities. Don earned an associate degree in Petroleum Technology and a bachelor’s degree in Geology from the University of Pittsburgh.

Mr. Klapkowski serves as the Deputy Secretary for the Office of Oil and Gas Management with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protections Office of Oil and Gas Management. As the Deputy Secretary, he leads an organization responsible for the oversight of the oil and gas industry in the Commonwealth. The Office of Oil and Gas Management is comprised of two Bureaus – the Bureau of District Oil and Gas Operations, which is responsible for permitting, inspection, compliance and oversight of the conventional oil and gas and unconventional gas industry, and the Bureau of Oil and Gas Planning and Program Management, which is responsible for the Department’s development of policy, regulatory, technical guidance and legislative documents, and data management systems, as well as providing on-going education and outreach to the public and regulated communities. Prior to becoming the Deputy Secretary, Mr. Klapkowski served as the Director of the Bureau of Oil and Gas Planning and Program Management for a decade. Before joining the Office of Oil and Gas Management in 2012, Mr. Klapkowski worked with the Department’s Bureau of Regulatory Counsel for more than 18 years, including service as the counsel to the Oil and Gas Program for four years. Other program clients included Pennsylvania’s Storage Tank program, the Land Recycling Program (brownfields/remediation), the Office of Energy and Technology Deployment, the Division of Hazardous Waste Management, the Division of Nuclear Safety and the Office of Pollution Prevention and Compliance Assistance. He received his J.D. in 1993 from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and graduated Magna Cum Laude from Washington and Jefferson College in 1990.