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Gov. Rendell this week announced the winners of the 2005 Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence at the site of one of the winners—the Lehigh Valley Industrial Park brownfield site.
"Pennsylvania is working with residents and businesses to make environmental protection an engine of economic growth," Gov. Rendell said. "Lehigh Valley Industrial Park is a perfect example of how investments in environmental protection can spur innovation and foster productivity. The work at the former Bethlehem Steel property will generate in excess of $1.5 billion in new investments and create 6,000 jobs in the Lehigh Valley."
Since Bethlehem Steel Corp. ceased manufacturing, site redevelopment has been a priority in the Lehigh Valley. The 1,600-acre property, named the Bethlehem Commerce Center, represents 20 percent of the city's taxable land and represents the region's single-most-important economic development project.
The Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence honors Pennsylvania businesses and organizations that put in place projects that take on environmental problems in ways that build new businesses, enhance the bottom line and engage residents in a renewed commitment to investing in their communities.
Winners of the 2005 Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence receive a commemorative plaque and outdoor flag to acknowledge their commitment to environmental quality. Each recipient will be presented with these exclusive awards during individual press events at the winner's location.
In addition to the Lehigh Valley Industrial Park Inc., the other 11 winners of the 2005 Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence include:
· Southern York County Library, Shrewsbury, York County: The library employed several green building technologies to achieve a 35 percent reduction in overall energy use, with $4,475 in energy savings projected annually. The project was awarded the NC 2.1 certification from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program, making it the first library project in the state to be so honored.
· CENTRIA, Ambridge, Beaver County: CENTRIA performed an oven and line speed upgrade at its facility, increasing the throughput of the Ambridge paint line and minimizing the use and expense of natural gas. Gas savings as a result of these upgrades are expected to range from $600,000 to $800,000 per year.
· Exhibit Place Inc., McKees Rocks, Allegheny County: This small business realizes savings of about $12,800 per year in energy costs through energy efficiency improvements made to their new facility. With these upgrades, Exhibit Place was able to expand their business while achieving a 40 percent energy cost reduction.
· Loyalhanna Watershed Association, Ligonier, Westmoreland County: This group's e-cycling program began in an effort to create a recycling program that would greatly benefit the environment and provide a convenient location for the community to dispose of small household, office and computer items free of charge. The e-cycling program is now one of just 13 in the commonwealth, and the only one run by a private organization. As of last fall, the program was one of only four free permanent electronics recycling centers in the state.
· Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp., East Earl, Lancaster County: In 2004, Conestoga created an Environmental and Community Outreach Team to extend their environmental efforts into the community. Through programs like the Conestoga Urban Forestry Initiative, sponsorship of environmental field trips for local schools and a new summer camp program, Conestoga is engaging the next generation of environmental stewards.
· Granger Energy of Honey Brook LLC, Caernarvon Township, Lancaster County: The Lanchester Landfill Gas Utilization Project is the first multiple customer landfill gas-to-energy project in Pennsylvania. Landfill gas is transported underground from the landfill for 13 miles to multiple customers, making it the longest landfill gas pipeline in the United States. Enough landfill gas will be used annually to save 122,800 barrels of oil, offset the use of 250 railcars of coal, provide greenhouse gas reduction benefits equal to planting 15,600 acres of forest, remove emissions of 11,550 cars or heat 33,900 homes.
· Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development LLC, Lower Gwynedd Township, Montgomery County: Through installation of a "zero" discharge cooling tower water treatment system, Johnson & Johnson achieved a water use and corresponding wastewater discharge reduction of 4.8 million gallons per year, resulting in a cost savings of $29,472 annually. This avoidance also reduces the burden on the local water authority and publicly owned treatment works. Another Johnson & Johnson facilities received a 2003 Governor’s Environmental Excellence Award.
· Wirerope Works Inc., Williamsport, Lycoming County: The company installed a combination of technologies successfully eliminating 27,000 pounds of lead pollution annually from their manufacturing process, and recycled more than 80,000 pounds of lead that was used in the old process, helping to fund the change. In addition, more than $50,000 annually is avoided in maintenance costs with the new process.
· Cranberry Township, Cranberry Township, Butler County: The township developed the Collection Connection, a comprehensive municipal waste management program that addresses the changing needs of its community. The Collection Connection includes fully automated collection, enabling fewer vehicles to service more homes in a shorter time; single-stream recycling, allowing storage and collection of all recyclables in one container; a pay-as-you-throw variable rate disposal/collection system; and year-round curbside yard waste collection for composting.
· Scrubgrass Generating Co., Kennerdell, Venango County: The Benjamin No. 6 Reclamation project transformed a formerly abandoned mine land into a environmentally viable landscape capable of supporting diverse vegetation, wildlife and aquatic species. Approximately 445,450 tons of coal refuse was removed from the site, and the entire 59 acres has been completed and revegetated, improving overall water quality, decreasing metal loading and stopping erosion and sedimentation runoff. Scrubgrass won Governor’s Environmental Excellence Awards in 1998 and 2000.
· PhillyCarShare, Philadelphia: PhillyCarShare is the first system worldwide in which government employees and local residents share vehicles by the hour in a major car-reduction effort. The project has replaced 330 municipal vehicles, saving the city $2 million annually, and residential members have sold or avoided the purchase of roughly 1,200 vehicles and saved about $5.5 million annually versus car ownership.
DEP received 78 applications for the 2005 Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence. The applications were evaluated according to the following criteria: overall environmental benefit, public service, economic impact, use of innovative technology, teamwork and environmental education and outreach.
To view a more detailed summary of the 12 winning projects, visit the 2005
Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence webpage.
From 1997 to 2003, the 295 winners of the Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence have saved the following: $1.4 billion in costs, 1.6 billion gallons of water, reduce air emissions by 212 million tons, eliminated or recycled 227 million tons of solid waste and saved over 273 million kilowatt hours of electricity. (click here to see updated results)
Past winners can also be viewed online (bottom of page).
There will be no 2006 Governor’s Environmental Excellence Awards, but applications for the 2007 Awards will be available soon on DEP’s Awards webpage.
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