Help Us Get’s Get the ‘D’ Out of Dryerson!

Center for Coalfield Justice and the Wheeling Creek Watershed Association will hold the second annual Dryerson Festival from 11AM-3PM on Sunday, July 27th at Ryerson Station State Park, Pavilion 3. This annual event helps focus attention on the destruction of Duke Lake which was drained in 2005 due to damage the dam sustained because of longwall mining in the area. The festival will include food and drink, games for children and adults, free casting lessons and a raffle and chinese auction. To learn more, download the flyer or check out the Center for Coalfield Justice webpage.

by Jim Kleissler

In May, 1994 in the Farnsworth Branch area of the Allegheny National Forest I came across my first oil & gas nightmare on my very first camping trip in the forest. While fishermen worked their craft just downstream, we observed what a local oil & gas exploration outfit must have labeled as pollution control. Their solution for a major oil leak at their storage tank facility was a bucket - a bucket with a hole in the bottom. That tank facility stood less than 20 feet upslope of the Farnsworth Branch.

In 1994, the oil & gas companies were drilling only about 100 wells per year in the Allegheny National Forest. Today they are drilling 20 times that, or several new oil & gas wells per day. Thousands of crude oil & gas wells and over 2,000 miles of oil & gas roads litter the forest, all too often with the blessing of the US Forest Service, whose slogan is supposed to be “caring for the land and serving the people”.

The US Forest Service has taken the stance for twenty years now that they cannot apply federal environmental comment and analysis laws to private oil & gas drilling. In an early 1980s Oil & Gas manual, they acknowledged that the National Environmental Policy Act applies. But they have not applied that federal law since. However, the same federal law is applied to similar oil & gas drilling operations in other national forests. In fact, newly-appointed Allegheny National Forest Supervisor Leanne Marten applied this very law to oil & gas operations in the Huron-Manistee National Forest when she served as supervisor there.

Take a look at some pictures of the industrialization’s effects.

The Allegheny Group of the Sierra Club is looking to take the lead to help ensure greater conservation of the Allegheny National Forest in the face of unprecedented oil & gas prices. To help with this work, please contact us at jim at blysonhill dot net.

In a recent message to members, Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope explained why the Sierra Club has endorsed Sen Obama.

Pope wrote ”Simply put, it’s because we believe Obama shares our concerns, values and vision for a clean energy future. He agrees with us that it’s not time for half steps; that what America needs is bold, transformational action that will break the chokehold Big Oil has on our economy and Washington politics, provide short-term relief for American families and long-term solutions for our energy and economy problems.

In the fall of 2006 the County held a series of Public Open Houses for a discussion of the first County Comprehensive Plan, know as Allegheny Places. After a hiatus, the Plan has resurfaced and is hopefully closer to a final version.

The public is invited to view the Draft Plan for Allegheny Places …

When: Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Time: 5:30 to 7:30 pm
Where: Duquesne University Power Center (Corner of Forbes Ave and Chatham Sq. – Open House will be on the 5th Floor)

Parking for the open house is available at the Forbes Avenue parking garage.

For more information, contact Brandi Rosselli: BMRosselli at mccormicktaylor dot com.

Some reactionary politicians scoff at the use of CFLs, suggesting that the small amounts of mercury can be a serious hazard. So just to be sure, our good friends at the PA Resources Council (PRC) on the Southside have sent us a list of places where we can recycle CFLs.

First, PRC explains that there are currently no regulatory requirements (federal or state) for individuals and/or home owners to recycle or dispose of their CFLs, fluorescent tubes, LED, or incandescent bulbs as hazardous waste since they are considered small quantity generators. Only businesses that produce larger quantities are required to do so.

So go replace your old incandescent light bulbs with CFLs, and when the CFLs do finally burn out, you can safely recycle them.

Could it be that the City of Pittsburgh is getting serious about climate change, while Congress stalls and the Allegheny County Executive Director does nothing?

As reported earlier, on June 24 the Green Government Task Force published its Pittsburgh Climate Initiative Action Plan. To his credit, on July 7 Councilman Peduto called a special council briefing session to discuss with the authors the essential details of the action plan. Attending the session were council members Shields, Burgess, Dowd, Harris, Kraus, Payne, and Peduto.

If the recommendations of the Action Plan are to be implemented, it will require a virtual cultural change in city government. How to achieve the needed changes was the main focus of the discussion, as described in the expeditionary field notes of Barbara Grover.

The first opportunity for public input will be in the Council Chamber at 1:30 pm on Tuesday, July 22. Watch this website for details.

The Pennsylvania General Assembly has adopted its first legislation designed to deal with global warming. The PA Climate Change Act, sponsored originally in the PA House by Rep. Vitali as HB 110, and later introduced as a companion bill, SB 266, in the Senate by Senator Ted Erickson (R, Delaware), will require Pennsylvania to:

• Create an inventory of all sources and amounts of global warming pollution
• Set up a registry of emitters in order to track their emissions and get credit for reductions
• Create a stakeholder group to advise the DEP on implementation of the act
• (Most importantly) charge the DEP with developing a state plan to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases

Although the Climate Change Act, HB 110, passed the House last year, apparently the Republican-led Senate was unwilling to move Democrat Vitali’s bill. Senator Erickson’s companion bill SB 266 became the Senate vehicle, passing 47 - 3. The House promptly approved SB 266 176 - 24 before adjourning for the summer recess.

When the senators return to Harrisburg in the fall they need to address the adoption of a statewide energy efficiency and demand-side response program. The House has already passed HB 2200, introduced by Rep. Camille “Bud” George, by a vote of 152 – 45. This bill would require electric utilities to reduce electricity usage by 2 1/2% in 5 years. Utilities would also be required to offer their consumers installation of “smart meters”, designed to assist consumers in reducing and managing their electric consumption.

As part of the final state budget deal at the beginning of July, the PA General Assembly approved Special Session House Bill 1, which will invest $650 million in conservation, efficiency and renewable or alternative energy development. The bulk of the funding - $500 million - will be “frontloaded”, to be spent within the next two years.

During the spring legislative session, there were two opposing bills under consideration. The House version, SS HB 1, mostly represented the Rendell Administration’s approach, and SS SB 1 represented the more conservative approach of Senator Mary Jo White, chair of the Senate Environmental Committee.

The House passed HB 1 and the Senate passed SB 1. The Sierra Club opposed both bills’ provisions that would allow some funding to go to alternative energy technologies that used coal. Fortunately, the coal technologies will be in competition with a number of other alternative energy technologies for the same pot of money.

HB 1 passed the Senate 47 - 3. It then went to the House, for concurrence with the Senate amendments, with a final vote of 172 - 31. There was strong bipartisan support in the end. All Democrats supported HB 1 while opponents included the most right-wing Republicans.

Rising prices and improved deep-well drilling technology are creating greater interest in extracting natural gas from the Marcellus shale beds beneath Pennsylvania. This extraction can come at a cost to landowners and the environment.

Tom Au and Barbara Benson of the Pennsylvania Chapter’s Water Issues Committee have recently released a citizen’s fact sheet about gas drilling in Marcellus shale. The fact sheet covers issues such as hydrofracturing, owner’s rights, DEP permit requirements, and potential environmental problems.

With the arrival of summer, farm markets are opening up around the region. To help locate a market near you, Arlene Burnett at the Post-Gazette has compiled a list of places where you can obtain locally grown farm products.