Volunteers Art Sconing, Harvey Baney, Velda Kauffman and Carl Crone

Art Sconing, Velda Kauffman, Carl Crone and Harvey Baney are just four of the over 2,900 volunteer members of the Pennsylvania Senior Environment Corps that go out every week to check water quality in local streams and educate people about the need to keep our water clean.

Art and his crew are members of the Capital Area Senior Environment Corps, one of the first organized in 1997 when the program started. There are now chapters covering 52 counties that monitor water quality at over 658 streamside sites around the state.

PA Environment Digest caught up with Art and the crew at two of their chemical and macroinvertebrete sampling sites on the Yellow Breeches Creek in and around New Cumberland Borough, Cumberland County.

Art, Velda, Carl and Harvey take turns explaining how they collect water samples to do dissolved oxygen, phosphates, pH, temperature and other water quality and chemical testing.

Water samples are then taken to a lab set up specifically by them in the New Cumberland Senior Center where they complete their analysis and record the results. At a second location, the crew captures and counts macroinvertebretes which give an indication of the overall aquatic health of the stream.

Each volunteer comes to the Senior Environment Corps in a different way with a different interest, but they are all enthusiastic about what they do and in attracting new volunteers to help out.

Take a look at these very special Video Blog pieces on some terrific volunteers:

· Water Quality Sampling on the Yellow Breeches;

· Counting Macroinvertebretes in the Yellow Breeches;

· Lab Tour – Senior Environment Corps; and

· Senior Environment Corps Volunteers Share Their Experiences.

For more information or to volunteer, visit the Pennsylvania Senior Environment Corps webpage.

4/13/2007