Opportunities to learn more about environmental and energy issues affecting Pennsylvania for students and adults--

Awards/Recognition

-- Dr. Susan L. Brantley Named A Distinguished Daughter Of Pennsylvania For Her Research On Water, Geology And The Environmental Impacts Of Natural Gas, Oil Extraction  [PaEN]

-- Widener Law Emeritus Professor John Dernbach Receives American Bar Association Distinguished Achievement Award In Environmental Law And Policy  [PaEN]

-- Tribune-Democrat: Eagle Scout Patrick Litzinger Builds Campsites At Lorain/Stoneycreek Hiking Trails In Cambria County 

-- Schuylkill Center For Environmental Education Becomes Accredited Arboretum In Philadelphia

Grants

-- US Forest Service Announces $34 Million Available To Support Sustainable Forestry Industry, Healthy Forest Landscapes, Applications Due Dec. 11

-- DEP Eligible For $1.7 Million US DOE Residential Energy Audit Workforce Development Grant; $27 Million Awarded Nationally For Clean Energy Workforce Training

Help Wanted

-- Help Wanted: Berks Conservation District - Agricultural Engineer, Administrative Assistant  [PaEN]

-- Erie Times: Erie Bird Observatory Seeking Executive Director

-- PUC Seeks Nominations For PA One Call Damage Prevention Committee

Upcoming Events

-- Educators Invited To Southwest PA Environmental Literacy Coalition Online Meetings Oct. 22, Dec. 12, Feb. 19, April 25  [PaEN]

-- Penn State Extension Ag Conservation Currents: Job Fairs; Conservation Success; Manure Storage, Safety; All Weather Paddocks; Biochar; Upcoming Training Events

-- Penn State PA Technical Assistance Program Hosting 2-Part Food Manufacturing Pollution Prevention Training Series  [PaEN]

-- Penn State PA Technical Assistance Program Hosting 2-Part Metals Manufacturing Pollution Prevention Training Series  [PaEN]

-- State Officials Encourage Participation In Drug Take-Back Day Oct. 26

-- Sierra Club PA Hosts Oct. 30 Webinar - It’s Scary Out Here! How Oil & Gas Waste Haunts Pennsylvania  [PaEN]

-- Lehigh Valley-Based Wildlands Conservancy Highlights November Program, Activities

-- Schuylkill Action Network To Hold Annual Meeting Nov. 1 At Albright College In Berks County  [PaEN]

-- Protect PT Hosts Nov. 11 Information Session On Penn Twp. Rezoning Proposal To Allow Shale Gas Industrial Development In Rural Resources Zone In Westmoreland County

-- Cumberland County Master Gardeners Host Nov. 16 Wildlife Tree Ornaments Workshop For Youth  [PaEN]

-- Foundation For Sustainable Forests: Register Now For Jim Finley Stewardship Day, Nov. 2

-- Penn State GIS Day Nov. 18-19 In State College, Online [PaEN]

-- PA Recreation & Parks Society Hosts Nov. 19 Community Engagement & Program Development Summit In Harrisburg

-- Penn State Extension Hosts 9-Part Woods In Your Backyard Webinar Series Starting Jan. 15  [PaEN] 

-- Registration Open!  PA Assn. Of Environmental Educators Conference March 10-12 In Erie  [PaEN]

-- Save The Date: Penn State ACAP Ag Conservation Con 2025 - April 1-3 In Harrisburg

Programs/Information

-- TribLive: Sustainability Focus Of Spruced-Up Courtyard At Middle School In Lower Burrell

-- NextPittsburgh: Chatham University, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy Partner To Enhance Shadyside Campus Arboretum

-- LancasterOnline - Ad Crable: Here’s How To Count Birds In Your Backyard Like A Citizen Scientist [PDF of Article]

-- Post-Gazette - Mary Ann Thomas: Pittsburgh Company Helps Indigenous People In Columbia Share The Beauty Of Birds With The World

-- ClearWater Conservancy Celebrates $2 Million Federal Grant For New Community Conservation Center To Enhance Environmental Stewardship, Local Economy  [PaEN]

-- DCNR: 5th Fall Foliage Report: Some Color Is Fading In Northern PA, But Middle And Southern Areas Will Have Vivid Foliage This Coming Week  [PaEN] 

-- DCNR Urges Caution To Prevent Wildfires Amid Increased Risk Due To Dry Conditions  [PaEN]

-- DCNR Forecast Wildfire Danger HIGH In Most Of PA For Wednesday, Oct. 23

-- DCNR Wildfire Danger Forecast MODERATE For Most Of PA On Oct. 24

-- DCNR Wildfire Forecast More HIGH Risk Areas Friday, Oct. 25

-- DCNR Wildfire Risk Forecast Has Half Of PA At HIGH For Saturday, Oct. 26

-- DCNR Wildfire Forecast Has More Than Half PA At High Risk Sunday, Oct. 27 

-- WNEP: Hazleton Drought Contingency Plan In Effect Until Further Notice; Customers Being Asked To Conserve Water

-- Republican Herald: Schuylkill Haven Issues Voluntary Water Conservation Notice

-- TribLive: 206-Year-Old Bridge A Sight To See For Visitors In Depleted Youghiogheny River Lake

-- Chesapeake Bay Foundation: After 40 Years Of Cutting Edge Environmental Restoration, Can The Bay Partnership Again Reinvent Itself In Time To Save The Bay In The 21st Century?

-- Penn State Extension Watershed Winds: Master Watershed Steward Emphasizes Conservation; Protect Your Septic System; Letort Spring Plant Walk; Tracking Stream Health

-- Washington & Jefferson Blog: Draft DOE Carbon Management Strategy To Fast-Track Deployment 

-- On The Kendal Journey Blog: Have Questions About Sustainability?  Read 'Not The End Of The World - How We Can Be The First Generation To Build A Sustainable Planet By Hannah Ritchie

Public Participation

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - October 26 [PaEN]

-- DEP Posted 78 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In October 26 PA Bulletin  [PaEN]

-- DEP Invites Comments On Total Maximum Daily Nutrient Load Plans For Muddy Run, Union County; Deer Creek, York County  [PaEN]

-- Delaware River Basin Commission To Hold Nov. 6 Hearing, Dec. 5 Business Meeting  [PaEN]

Background On Issues

-- Environmental, Health Groups Submit Petition To Environmental Quality Board For More Protective Setbacks From Shale Gas Wells For Schools, Daycares, Hospitals, Buildings, Drinking Water Wells, Surface Water  [PaEN]

-- The Guardian: Fracking’s Return Stirs Fury In Pennsylvania Town Whose Water Turned Toxic   [Dimock, Susquehanna County]

-- WITF StateImpactPA - Susan Phillips: Fracking In Pennsylvania Hasn’t Gone As Well As Some May Think

-- Baker Hughes: PA Natural Gas Drilling Rig Count Down To 12, Lowest In More Than 17 Years; Community Support Drops; Big Hole In DEP Budget  [PaEN]

-- TribLive: Murrysville Council Denies Citizen Petition To Rescind Oil And Gas Leases Under Park Land In Westmoreland County 

-- Protect PT Hosts Nov. 11 Information Session On Penn Twp. Rezoning Proposal To Allow Shale Gas Industrial Development In Rural Resources Zone In Westmoreland County

-- NPR: States Work To Track Down, Cap Dangerous Methane Leaks From Conventional Oil, Gas Wells Abandoned By Their Owners [Allegheny National Forest]

-- DEP Plugs Conventional Gas Well Orphaned By The Well Owner That Contaminated A Clarion County Family's Drinking Water Well; Conventional Oil & Gas Well Owners Continue To Abandoned Their Wells - 814 Violations So Far In 2024 - 2 New Plugging Grant Programs   [PaEN]

-- ExploreClarion.com: DEP Plugs Conventional Gas Well That Contaminated Vowinckel Family’s Drinking Water In Clarion County

-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - October 19 to 25 - DEP Abandoned Conventional Well Violations Top 814; Conventional Owner Ignores Order; Gas Leaks & Spills  [PaEN]

-- City & State NY: The Fate Of State’s Conventional Oil/Gas Wells Abandoned By Their Owners May Depend On The Presidential Election [New York, Pennsylvania]

-- EDF: New Report Shows 22% Growth In PA's Oil & Gas Methane Emissions Mitigation Industry In 3 Years  [PaEN]

-- US DOT Announces $196 Million In Grants To Replace Aging Natural Gas Pipes, Cut Methane Emissions, Including $40 Million To Philadelphia Gas Works

-- WHYY: Philadelphia Gas Works Gets Federal Money To Replace Aging Natural Gas Mains

-- Dept. Of Agriculture, Land O'Lakes Farmer Cooperative, National Hemp Assn. Receive $40 Million In USDA Funding To Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Improve Water Quality  [PaEN]

-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission Approved, Renewed 20 Shale Gas Well Pad Water Use General Permits In September; 232 General Permits So Far In 2024  [PaEN] 

-- The Allegheny Front: Coal Community Groups Ask Presidential Candidates For Continued Funding To Re-Energize Coal Community Economies

-- Allegheny Conference Of Community Development:  A Major Win - Mainspring Energy Receives DOE Grant For Linear Generator Sustainable Energy Manufacturing Facility  [PaEN]

-- DCED Invests $8.6 Million To Help Bring Mainspring Energy To PA, Creating Nearly 600 Clean Energy Jobs In Allegheny County

-- Post-Gazette: Mainspring Clean Energy Company Plans To Build New Plant Near Airport, Hire 600 Workers

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: Mainspring Energy To Bring Big Plant, Hundreds Of Jobs To Coraopolis

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: Meet Mainspring, The Company Behind Tuesday’s Big Clean Energy Announcement

-- PJM CEO Expresses Concern About Electric Generating Capacity: Higher Prices Have Incentivized Some Generators, But Building Gas Generators Has Slowed, Permitting, Supply Chain Issues Hamper Renewables  [PaEN]

-- Utility Dive: Power Plant Owners Group Backs PJM Electricity Generation Capacity Auction Delay But Warn Of Waning Investor Confidence

-- Chesapeake Bay Journal - Ad Crable: With Electricity Prices Rising, Groups Blame Slow Rollout Of Renewables

-- PennEnvironment: Pennsylvania Ranks 48th In US For Renewable Energy Growth  [PaEN]

-- Post-Gazette: Data Shows PA Lags Behind Other States In Renewable Energy Growth In Last Decade

-- Wall Street Journal:  Churches Look Skyward For Energy Savings [Solomon’s Church Solar Energy, Chambersburg, Franklin County]  [PDF of Article]

-- Inside Climate News - Kiley Bense: In Fight To Decide Fate Of US Steel, Climate, Public Health Take A Backseat To Politics

-- WESA: Pittsburgh-Area Planners Prep For Climate Future - Pretty Much Everywhere It’s Gonna Be Wet

-- US Dept. Of Interior Announces Approval Of Another $244 Million In Funding To Pennsylvania For Cleaning Up Legacy Pollution From Abandoned Mine Lands; Local Mine Reclamation Grants Due To DEP Nov. 8  [PaEN]

-- Penn State EarthTalks: Oct. 28 - Recycling As A Strategy To Increase Critical Minerals Supply  [PaEN]

-- Spotlight PA: Legal Bills Divide Some Elected Officials Involved In Centre County Solar Energy Project

-- Wall Street Journal: They Are Basking In America’s Oil Boom - And Preparing For The Big Bust

-- Financial Times: European Gas Industry Abandons Deal To Retrain Workers For Low Carbon Economy

 -- WESA: Pittsburgh-Area Planners Prep For Climate Future - Pretty Much Everywhere It’s Gonna Be Wet

-- Delaware RiverKeeper Oct. 25 RiverWatch Video Report

-- Chesapeake Bay Journal - Ad Crable: Historic York County Farm To Become Gateway For Susquehanna National Heritage Area Discovery Center & Heritage Park

-- TribLive/AP: On Lake Erie, Getting Rid Of Problem Algae Starts With Giving It Less Food

-- Game Commission: Motorists Should Be Mindful Of Ramped-Up Deer Activity

-- WHYY: Conservation Meets ‘Ethical’ Hunting: John Heinz Refuge Hosts Mentored Deer Hunts

-- Beaver County Times - Brian Whipkey: Researchers Explain Why Everyone Should Care About Bats

-- Penn State: Invasive Flathead Catfish Impacting Susquehanna River’s Food Chain, Researchers Find

-- MCall: Wildlands Conservancy Black River Sanctuary Now Open To Public

-- Williamsport Sun - Bill Bower: Reflections In Nature - Jack Frost Seems To Have Come Early This Year

Visit the  DEP Calendar of Events;  PA Parks & Forests Foundation’s Events webpage and DCNR’s Calendar of Events for activities happening near you.

Visit DEP’s Teaching Green webpage to learn about more environmental education resources.

Visit the PA Environment Digest Calendar Of Events for more opportunities.

[Posted: October 27, 2024]

10/28/2024