EEC Hosts Program on Rain Gardens

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: June 23, 2008

“EEC Hosts Program on Rain Gardens”

The Carbon County Environmental Education Center will host a program on the use of rain gardens and rainwater collection on Friday, June 27th, at 7:00 pm.

Cindy Kerschner, a member of the Carbon County Groundwater Guardians, will show participants how to use gardening techniques to slow or stop the effects of erosion and runoff on their property. She will also demonstrate how to construct a simple rainwater collection system – a “rain barrel” – for very little money.

The Groundwater Guardians are an all-volunteer group dedicated to public education on groundwater and drinking water issues.

The program is free to CCEEC members, and a small donation is requested from non-members. For more information or to register, call (570) 645-8597.

The EEC is located at the west end of Mauch Chunk Lake Park, just outside Jim Thorpe, along the Lentz Trail Highway.

What do you think about your community?

We all have opinions about the community where we live. We like and don’t like some things. We probably would like to see some changes and leave the rest alone.

If you live in Luzerne, Carbon, Columbia, Lackawanna, Monroe, Montour, Northumberland, Pike, Schuylkill, and Wayne counties, the Pocono Northeast Resource Conservation & Development Council (PNERCD) wants to know your opinion on what is your community’s biggest need?

PNERCD is a regional, nonprofit organization that has been working since 1980 within northeast Pennsylvania.

There is an online Survey at
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=p0VKf0EMGcuNUe6wMU2rUA_3d_3d
where you can express your feelings about economic development, historic preservation, reclaiming abandoned mine land, watershed management, forest management, land conservation, air quality and alternative energy opportunities.

Your answers will help guide the PNERCD from 2009 through 2014.

The Pocono Northeast Resource Conservation & Development (RC&D) Council is located at the Saint Rose Academy Center in Mayfield, PA (1300 Old Plank Road, Mayfield, Pennsylvania 18433) and on the web at http://www.pnercd.org/.

More consumers turning on the tap

The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that one effect of the credit crunch and ailing economy is that more consumers are forgoing bottled water and turning back to tap water. It may also have something to do with more awareness of the negative environmental impact of plastic bottles.

I’m not sure how that will impact us here in Carbon County as I haven’t seen the standard of living change all that much over the past year. Most of us aren’t all that comfortable hanging with the high-end bottled water sipping crowd. Even so, as more folks turn back to their tap water in rural areas, more attention will be focused on their private water supply systems.

The first thing they’ll probably notice is that it tastes different. We should be ready to answer their questions when they ask if that means there is something wrong with it.

Lead Leaching And Faucet Corrosion In PVC Home Plumbing

ScienceDaily (Jun. 2, 2008) — Scientists in Virginia are reporting that home plumbing systems constructed with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic pipes may be more susceptible to leaching of lead and copper into drinking water than other types of piping — especially when PVC systems include brass fixtures and pipefittings.

Marc Edwards and colleagues point out that more water purification plants in the United States are using chloramine to treat water. At the same time, builders are plumbing more houses with plastic pipe, rather than copper, to cut costs. Past studies have found that ammonia formed in chloramine-treated water can trigger a series of events that corrode brass faucet components and connectors commonly used in PVC plumbing systems. Corrosion of brass (made with copper, zinc and lead) releases those metals into water pipes and makes faucets prone to failure.

In the new study, researchers sampled water from polyvinyl chloride (PVC), copper, lead, and other pipe material under a range of experimental conditions. They found that corrosive conditions were often worst in plastic pipes, which could be expected to cause higher metal leaching of zinc and lead from brass faucets used in homes and buildings.

ScienceDaily 2 June 2008. 4 June 2008 <http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080602091241.htm>.

Journal reference:

Zhang et al. Nitrification in Premise Plumbing: Role of Phosphate, pH and Pipe Corrosion. Environmental Science & Technology, 2008; 0 (0): 0 DOI: 10.1021/es702483d

Adapted from materials provided by American Chemical Society.

NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards (NWR)

NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards (NWR) is a nationwide network of radio stations broadcasting continuous weather information directly from the nearest National Weather Service office. NWR broadcasts official Weather Service warnings, watches, forecasts and other hazard information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Working with the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) Emergency Alert System , NWR is an “All Hazards” radio network, making it your single source for comprehensive weather and emergency information. In conjunction with Federal, State, and Local Emergency Managers and other public officials, NWR also broadcasts warning and post-event information for all types of hazards including natural (such as earthquakes or avalanches), environmental (such as chemical releases or oil spills), and public safety (such as AMBER alerts or 911 Telephone outages).

Known as the “Voice of NOAA’s National Weather Service,” NWR is provided as a public service by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), part of the Department of Commerce. NWR includes more than 985 transmitters , covering all 50 states, adjacent coastal waters, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the U.S. Pacific Territories. NWR requires a special radio receiver or scanner capable of picking up the signal.

Click on the following link to find out more about where to listen to NOAA Weather Radio in your area:

http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/stations.php?State=PA

Drinking Water Protection Workshop

The workshop will be held from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, June 4, at the Holiday Inn Conference Center in Fogelsville, Lehigh County.

The workshop will explore how communities can assess the areas surrounding water sources, facilitate better local decision making on land use and open space preservation, and involve the public in contamination prevention efforts. Information on DEP’s source water protection technical assistance program will also be presented.

Water suppliers can treat water through technological methods and procedures, but protecting the water sources is essential to ensuring quality drinking water.

The workshop is being sponsored by DEP, the League of Women Voters, the Lehigh County Conservation District, the Pennsylvania Rural Water Association (PRWA), and other organizations.

PRWA will provide 3.5 contact hours for certified operators.

Those interested in attending must pre-register for this free workshop by visiting www.drinkingwaterwise.org or by contacting Julie Kollar of the League of Women Voters’ Water Resource Education Network at juliekwren@verizon.net or 267-468-0555.

Composting – The Next Step in Recycling!

See below for information on composting workshops at Beltzville State Park

Contact: Bonnie Smith 215-814-5543 /smith.bonnie@epa.gov

International Compost Awareness Week is May 4 to May 10, 2008

PHILADELPHIA (May 1, 2008) — Are you ready for free fertilizer and a soil conditioner that will give your flowers and vegetables a boost? Then break out the compost bin.

For people who recycle regularly and are looking for ways to reduce their household waste even further, composting is the sensible next step. Yard trimmings and food residuals together constitute 24 percent of the U.S. municipal solid waste stream. That’s a lot of waste to send to landfills especially when you could put it to good use in your garden.

Tea bags, coffee grounds, fruit and vegetable peels, pet hair, dryer lint, egg shells, leaves, and grass clippings – almost any organic materials — can be thrown into the compost pile.

You can get started quickly and easily. You don’t need special equipment – just a level, well-drained space outdoors for a compost pile, which shouldn’t be larger than 3 feet by 3 feet. It could take a year or two, but eventually you will get rich, dark humus that will keep your plants healthy.

Many homeowners invest in a compost bin to save space, hasten decomposition, and keep the yard looking neat. These are available in home and garden centers and on the internet.

The most important thing is to keep the compost aerated. Be sure to mix it up whenever you add new materials. That will add oxygen, which will speed up the process. You will also want to keep the compost pile fairly balanced with materials. Too many leaves, for example, will cause the material to break down too slowly. 

When your humus is ready, your soil will love it. You will, too, when you notice a reduction in your water bill. Compost improves the soil’s ability to hold water. And with regular use of compost, you’ll greatly reduce the need for chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides, which is not only good for your wallet but will reduce contamination to streams, lakes and other waterbodies.

For more information, go to www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/composting/basic.htm.

FREE Backyard Compost Bin Workshops!

Choose One! Location: Beltzville State Park’s EIC

*Wednesday, May 14 @ 6:30 pm

*Wednesday, July 16 @ 6:30 pm

*Tuesday, August 12 @ 6:30 pm

*Thursday, August 21@ 6:30 pm DONATIONS ARE WELCOME!

Would you like to have rich soil for your garden or your flowerbeds? FREE! Attend a Compost Workshop! Leave the session with a FREE Compost bin (valued @ $115) (limit one of each item per household) and all the knowledge you need to get started. The Penn State Cooperative Extension – Carbon County Master Gardeners and Beltzville State Park is offering free compost workshops at Beltzville State Park. Biodegradable waste such as vegetable peels, apple cores, leaves, coffee grounds, grass clippings, and even shredded newspaper breaks down into compost which can be spread over gardens, flowerbeds and lawns to add nutrients to the soil. Soil test kits will also be available. This is recycling in its purest form. This program is funded through a DEP grant. This program is very popular! Pre-registration is required. Contact the Beltzville State Park office at 610-377-9150 or 610-377-0045 or email Beltzvillesp@state.pa.us with your name, phone number, email address, # of people attending and date of workshop you wish to attend. Registration is limited.

Free electronics recycling event slated for Friday and Saturday

From the Times News

The Carbon County Department of Solid Waste will be holding a two-day electronics recycling event on Friday, May 2, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Saturday, May 3, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The event, which is free and open to all Carbon County residents, will be held at the Lehigh Township Municipal building, 1741 South Lehigh Gorge Drive, Weatherly.

At the collection site, workers will be accepting electronic items such as VCRs, stereos, computer monitors, towers, printers and scanners, mainframe and telecom equipment, circuit boards of any kind, telephones, fax machines, and DVD and CD players. Television sets or household appliances will not be accepted.

For more information, call the Carbon County Department of Solid Waste at (610) 852-5111.

“BE AIR AWARE”

Air Quality Awareness Week 
April 28 thru May 2, 2008