July 17, 2015

July 20 PA Environment Digest Now Available

The July 20 PA Environment Digest is now available.  Here are just a few of the headlines--

CBF: Milestone Assessment Finds PA Falling Short Of Its Water Cleanup Commitments
An assessment of key practices that Pennsylvania is relying on to reduce pollution in local waterways found that implementation was significantly off track to meet the goals that the Commonwealth set.   The assessment was conducted by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Choose Clean Water Coalition was released on Tuesday.  Click Here for full story.

Pennsylvania Has 530 Days To Meet 2017 Clean Water Milestones
Pennsylvania has 530 days (as of July 20) to put the best management practices on the ground needed to eliminate 10 million pounds of nitrogen and 212 million pounds of sediment from going into our rivers and streams to meet the 2017 Chesapeake Bay cleanup milestones.  Pennsylvania is even further behind because we did not meet the 2013 pollution reduction milestones.  Click Here for full story.

EPA Notifies DEP It Will Act If PA Does Not Make Progress In Clean Water Goals
Nicholas DiPasquale, Director of EPA’s Chesapeake Bay Program Office, sent a letter to the Department of Environmental Protection on May 4 reminding DEP his office can take action to assure Pennsylvania’s nutrient and sediment reduction goals are met if Pennsylvania does not act.  One action, DiPasquale said, was for EPA to directly use money awarded to Pennsylvania for Chesapeake Bay compliance to support on-the-ground implementation of reduction measures.  Click Here for full story.

12 Maryland Legislators Urge EPA To Force PA To Meet Clean Water Commitments
On April 21 a bipartisan group of 12 members of the Maryland House of Delegates wrote to EPA Region III Administrator Shawn Garvin urging him to use his authority to force Pennsylvania to meet its Chesapeake Bay cleanup commitments.  Click Here for full story.

Citizens Advisory Council Meeting Features Chesapeake Bay, Act 54 Report Comments
The July 21 meeting of DEP’s Citizens Advisory Council features an evaluation of how Pennsylvania is meeting its Chesapeake Bay Watershed cleanup commitments and a discussion to finalize the Council’s comments on DEP’s Act 54 report on the impact of underground coal mining.  Click Here for full story.

DEP To Webcast July 22 Pipeline Task Force Meeting Live
The Department of Environmental Protection will webcast the July 22 meeting of the Pipeline Infrastructure Task Force meeting starting at 1:00.  Click Here to join the webcast.

Sojourn Marks Conewango Creek’s PA River Of The Year Designation
Fun on the Conewango Creek flowing through northern Warren County drew paddlers and other outdoors enthusiasts to a celebration on July 11 marking the rebounding waterway’s designation as Pennsylvania’s River of the Year for 2015.  Click Here for full story.

KPB, Partners Hold Illegal Dumping Surveillance Meeting July 28 In Windber
Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful is partnering with the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies and Lift Johnstown to hold an informational meeting July 28 in Windber, Somerset County on Illegal Dump Free PA, a program that provides community resources to fight illegal dumping in Pennsylvania, for stakeholders in Cambria, Somerset and Bedford Counties.  Click Here for full story.

13th Anniversary Of Quecreek Mine Rescue In Somerset
On July 24, 2002 miners broke through into an abandoned, water-filled mine flooding the Quecreek Mine with over 150 million gallons of water.  Nine miners scrambled to safety, but nine were trapped in a pocket of air in the dark, cold, water filled mine.  Click Here for full story.

Pocono Forest & Waters Conservation Landscape Mini-Grant Success Stories
The Pocono Forest and Waters Conservation Landscape has been implementing a mini-grant program within the Pocono Forest and Waters Conservation Landscape for the last few years thanks to funding provided by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.   Click Here for full story.

DCNR Secretary Addresses Students On Environmental Careers
It was the one question her entire audience wanted to ask: “How did you pick an environmental career?”  For the answering DCNR secretary, Cindy Adams Dunn, the indicators always were there—a childhood love of the outdoors; a developing interest in hiking, birding and fishing; a desire to share that attachment with others as a camp counselor.  Click Here for the full story.

To read the Digest, visit: www.PaEnvironmentDigest.com.  Click Here to print the entire Digest.

PA Environment Digest is edited by David E. Hess, former Secretary Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, and is published as a service of Crisci Associates.


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Questions?: Send email to David Hess at: DHess@CrisciAssociates.com