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

WHERE ARE SPECTER, THE ATSDR AND THE PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH?

From: http://www.dante7.com/   [Posted – April 28, 2008]

As most people in northeastern Pennsylvania know, we have a highly significant polycythemia vera cancer problem in this area. A 2007 investigation by the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) indicated that our rate of polycythemia vera is at least 4.5 times the national average www.washingtonindependent.com…ATSDR.pdf!

On October 6, 2006, U.S. Senator Arlen Specter and representatives from the ATSDR and the Pennsylvania Department of Health (PA DOH) first announced a study of our polycythemia vera epidemic www.tnonline.com.

At the time of the announcement, Senator Specter stated, “This area has been a dumping ground. We understand your concerns and we share your concerns. When I hear about cancer, I’m especially concerned.” Senator Specter emphasized, “We’ll do everything that can be done.”

U.S. Senator Arlen Specter
On October 24, 2007, officials from the ATSDR and the PA DOH reported the results of their preliminary study confirming the elevated rates of the rare cancer in this area. Dr. Steve Dearwent, Chief of the Health Investigation Bureau, Division of Health Studies, represented the ATSDR.

Dr. Steve Dearwent, ATSDR
The Lehighton Times News reported, “Dearwent stressed that ATSDR will continue to follow up by studying spacial distribution of the cancer within the area” www.tnonline.com. In addition, Dr. Michael Huff, Deputy Secretary, PA DOH, stated, “We are committed to doing additional work and study.”

Dr. Michael Huff, PA DOH
It has been between six and 18 months since “We’ll do everything that can be done,” “ATSDR will continue to follow up ” and “We are committed to doing additional work and study.”

Where are the officials from the ATSDR and the PA DOH? Representatives from these government agencies are nowhere to been seen.

Please contact your elected representatives and demand that they do their jobs by getting officials at the ATSDR and the PA DOH to do their jobs.

The Mythical Daily Water Requirement

Scientific American – USA
So the Pennsylvania docs scanned the literature. Do we really need to drink eight glasses of water each day? They discovered that drinking water does help the kidneys clear out salt and such. …

To read the article, click HERE

Get daily EPA tips in April on ‘going green’

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

PHILADELPHIA (April 1, 2008) Everyday there are reports in newspapers, on television, on the radio and the web with suggestions on how to reduce our carbon footprint, make our homes and businesses more energy efficient and create communities that are sustainable. Now, you can now sign up for daily environmental tips sent directly to you by e-mail from EPA throughout April at http://www.epa.gov/earthday/tips.htm. Also available is a green tip “widget” you can download for daily environmental tips. A widget is a small piece of Web programming code that can be added to a blog, wiki, or Web page.

These daily environmental tips are a part of EPA’s 2008 Earth Day celebration. April 22 is Earth Day and this year, EPA is launching several initiatives throughout the month of April to help raise environmental awareness.

On April 22, 1970, twenty million people across America celebrated the first Earth Day. Now, Earth Day is celebrated around the world.

National Poison Prevention Week (March 16-22)

From: “U.S. EPA”
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Play It Safe, Prevent Poisonings, Lock Up Pesticides

Contacts: (Media only) Dale Kemery, (202) 564-4355 / kemery.dale@epa.gov
(All other inquiries) Darlene Dinkins, (703) 305-5214 / dinkins.darlene@epa.gov

(Washington, D.C. – March 17, 2008) Every 13 seconds, a U.S. poison control center receives a call about an unintentional poisoning. The American Association of Poison Control Centers reports that more than 50 percent of the two million poisoning incidents each year involve children younger than six years old. In 2006, poison centers reported more than 77,000 calls made to poison centers with concerns about potential exposure to common household pesticides (potential exposures do not necessarily represent a poisoning).

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) observes National Poison Prevention Week each year to increase awareness of the danger to children of unintentional poisonings from pesticides and household products, and to encourage parents and caregivers to lock up products that could potentially harm children.

In observance of National Poison Prevention Week (March 16-22), EPA has launched a poison-prevention segment on Green Scene, EPA’s new series of environmental videos. During an interview on Green Scene, Assistant Administrator Jim Gulliford, of the Office of Prevention Pesticides and Toxic Substances, discusses Poison Prevention Week, how to protect your children from toxic substances around the home and how to respond in case of accidental poisoning.

EPA is also conducting extensive outreach targeting the Hispanic communities, including television interviews to be aired on “Cada Dia,” Telemundo’s national morning program and the Telemundo Washington affiliate in DC. Other interviews include Univision TV and Radio and CNN Radio en Espanol.

Link to Green Scene Podcast: http://www.epa.gov

EPA’s Poison Prevention Web site: http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/health/poisonprevention.htm

The National Poison Center hotline is 1-800-222-1222.

View all news releases related to pesticides and toxic chemicals
http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/health/poisonprevention.htm

Sent by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency · 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW · Washington DC 20460 · (202) 564-4355

Carbon protects groundwater resources

http://www.tnonline.com/node/285313
Times News
March 15, 2008

Carbon County will make groundwater protection and education a priority for another year by participating in Groundwater Guardian, a program of The Groundwater Foundation that encourages citizen involvement in groundwater protection and education activities on the local level.

The Groundwater Foundation, based in Lincoln, Neb., is a non-profit organization that educates and motivates the public to care about and for groundwater. Since its inception in 1985, the foundation has offered various educational programs and opportunities for youth and adults.

As part of its participation in the program, Carbon County has formed a diverse team of representatives from citizenry, business, agriculture, education and local government to work on activities that address local groundwater concerns and needs, such as public awareness, education, conservation, pollution prevention, public policy or best-management practices.

Groundwater Guardian began in 1994 with eight pilot communities. Carbon County has participated since 2000 and was among 140 communities in 34 states and one Canadian province designated as Groundwater Guardians in 2007. New communities can get involved in Groundwater Guardian at any time during the year and there is no cost to participate.

The Groundwater Guardian program is made possible with generous support from the program’s national co-sponsor, the United States Geological Survey. Visit www.usgs.gov to learn more. Additional program support is provided by Cargill and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

A complete description of Groundwater Guardian, online entry forms, program benefits and activity ideas are available on The Groundwater Foundation’s Web site at http://groundwater.org. For additional information, or if you have questions, please contact The Groundwater Foundation at 1 (800) 858-4844 or at guardian@groundwater.org.