PA Senior Environment Corps in Action

The 30-minute film “Knee Deep” documentary featuring members of the Center in the Park Senior Environment Corps of Germantown has been nominated for an Emmy Award by the Mid-Atlantic chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

Produced and directed by Ann Tegnell and Sharon Mullally, it stars citizen volunteer monitors from the Center.

The volunteers, trained by DEP’s Citizens’ Volunteer Monitoring Program staff and the Pennsylvania Senior Evironment Corps, have taken on the task of sampling and testing water of creeks in the Philadelphia. The documentary tells what happens when the corps finds evidence of untreated sewage in the Monoshone Creek.

The persistence of the volunteers results in the Philadelphia Water Department investing significant resources in the watershed. The film also depicts how the generation of long-term data that supports changes in the management of water and waste, combined with a commitment to educating children and communities about their urban environment, is a legacy of the Center in the Park Senior Environment Corps.

Emmy Awards will be announced on September 17.

The Center in the Park Senior Environment Corps was one of the first groups formed through a partnership between the departments of Environmental Protection and Aging and the Environmental Alliance for Senior Involvement.

For more information, visit the Pennsylvania Senior Environment Corps webpage or contact Beth Grove, 717-244-6248 or send email to: PaGreatSEC@aol.com. For information on the Citizens Volunteer Monitoring Program contact Diane Wilson, DEP, at 717-787-3730 or send email to: diawilson@state.pa.us .

Also learn more by going to the Keystone Watershed Monitoring Network webpage.

8/19/2005