Learn what You Can Do To Protect Drinking Water
WREN OFFERS TWO FREE WORKSHOPS IN JUNE
Communities undergoing natural gas development have expressed a keen interest in protecting the purity of public water supplies. To help communities, planners, and public water systems learn more about available tools and management options to protect drinking water now and for future generations, WREN and PA DEP are bringing a pair of free workshops to Ridgway, Elk County, on June 21st and June 22nd at the North Central Pennsylvania Regional Planning & Development Commission facilities.
On June 21st , the “Protecting Public Drinking Water: Source Water Protection Solutions” Workshop will cover the basics of source water protection, outline roles and responsibilities, and introduce tools like DEP’s Source Water Protection Technical Assistance Program and PA Rural Water’s assistance program that provide protection plans that focus on prevention, before contamination happens. WREN’s Julie Kollar, and Mark Stephens, P.G. at DEP North Central Region will present. The workshop will run from 1 pm – 4:45 pm and is approved by DEP for 3.5 contact hours for water operators.
On June 22nd, WREN will offer “Source Water Protection through Planning & Leadership,” featuring advanced source water protection training with a “train the trainer” workshop for planners, local governments, water systems, and interested citizens who want to learn more about source water protection strategies. WREN’s Julie Kollar and DEP’s Mark Stephens will be joined by PMPEI-certified planning instructor D. Jeffrey Pierce, Director of Community Planning at Olsen and Associates, LLC who will present “Planning Tools for Municipalities, along with Professor Ross H. Pifer, Director, Agricultural Law and Reference Center, Penn State Law who will present “State Pre-Emption of a Municipality’s Authority to Regulate Oil and Gas Operations.” Mark Szybist, Staff Attorney at PennFuture will wrap up with a session covering “What Municipalities Can Do Now.” The workshop will be conducted from 10 am – 2:15 pm, also at the North Central PA Regional Planning & development Commission in Ridgeway.
To learn more, download a flyer and register online, go to www.sourcewaterpa.org