Community Outreach and Education Events for 2013
Outreach Events in 2013
Work in 2013 done under the Supervision of the Carbon County Groundwater Guardians
Project 1:
Friends of Salt Springs State Park – Susquehanna County Event
Brian Oram, of the Carbon County Groundwater Guardians and a professional geologist with B.F. Environmental Consultants Inc. will conduct a private or community based education and awareness programs on water quality. The organization will hold a “fact based presentation” that reviews real concerns and issues in our communities today and non-point and point sources of contamination that is supported by the Pocono Northeast Resource Conservation and Development Council and the C-SAW Program. Some hands-on “quick” water testing will be done capturing pH, ionic salt measurements, (conductivity) and total dissolved solids (TDS) on the tap water, and 2 streams at Salt Springs State Park. There has already been multiple email and telephone discussions and an initial review of the available water quality data.
This will be the equivalent of a 1 day training event related to private wells, non-point pollution sources, groundwater and surfacewater interaction, water testing, some Marcellus Shale Issues. The training will target education, mentoring, and teaching local citizens how to screen water quality in groundwater and surfacewater. The training will be fact based cover surfacewater and groundwater issues, non-point source pollution, point source pollution, and will be used to aid in the local and regional water quality and environmental monitoring and conservancy efforts. The event will be held at the Salt Springs State Park. The presentation used in this workshop will be converted to a pdf file and posted on the Carbon County Groundwater Guardians Website, and Slideshare. The full cost of developing the presentation is not included in the cost for this project.
Minimum Estimated In-kind – $ 1900.00
Project 2:
Hidden Lake Association
This assistance is related to mentoring and general assistance with the organizations educational outreach, watershed monitoring efforts, and educating the community. The organization needs a refresher in the use of their monitoring equipment, compiling data in a spreadsheet format, selecting reagents, and reviewing sampling techniques. The consultants will also include a review of recent groundwater testing conducted by the organization. There has already been 1 planning meeting with the organization and multiple email and telephone discussions.
Estimated In-kind – $ 660.00
Project 3:
Luzerne County Conservation District- Free Education Event
An educational program on Groundwater Resources and Protecting/Monitoring Private Wells for Residents in Luzerne County, the event will be help on a Saturday in July 27, 2013. The private well owners will also screen their well water samples for pH, conductivity, nitrate, alkalinity, hardness, nitrite, and iron. The presentation will include a summary of the data within the Citizens Groundwater and Surfacewater Database, plus showing citizens how to monitor the quality of the groundwater and surfacewater using visual clues and low cost monitoring instruments.
Estimated In-kind – $ 2400.00
Project 4:
Riverfest – Public Education Event
June 21- 23, 2013 – Education Session is on June 22, 2013 in Wilkes Barre – they are requesting an interactive family activity. I am waiting on their application. To attend Riverfest as a representative of the C-SAW Program –this will require the following allocation and items. The event is requesting interactive activities for the families and children. This will including promoting the C-SAW Program, leading interactive activities related to water quality monitoring, microscopic evaluations of insects, and groundwater/surfacewater interactions. The Council will provide the necessary materials for this event as it relates to the C-SAW program. This does not include the cost of reproducing educational materials.
Estimated In-kind – $ 500.00
Project 5:
Lake Ariel
The homeowners association is requesting assistance with aiding in the review of their water quality monitoring efforts, conducting groundwater monitoring, and training and informing the local stakeholders. The focus of this effort will to conduct an education outreach effort for the association, aid in developing a groundwater monitoring program, education on non-point source and point source pollution control, and the interactions between surfacewater and groundwater. The areas of key discussion will include septic systems, private wells, fertilizers, and other non-point sources of pollution. There has already been 1 planning meeting with the organization and multiple email and telephone discussions. After the planning meeting, we assisted with baseline sampling and then conducted a community meeting with over 50+ private well owners attending.
Estimated In-kind – $ 2500.00
The projects will be billed by the Carbon County Groundwater Guardians at 501 C3. This work is part of the educational outreach efforts for this organization.
Volunteer
We seek new people at all skill levels for a variety of programs. One thing that everyone can do is attend meetings to share ideas on improving CCGG, enabling us to better understand and address the concerns of well owners.
Everything we do began with an idea.
We realize your time is precious and the world is hectic. CCGG’s volunteers do only what they’re comfortable with. It can be a little or a lot.
For more information, please go to CCGG’s About Page or contact us.
Carbon County Groundwater Guardians is a 501(c)(3) IRS approved nonprofit, volunteer organization and your donation is tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.. Unsolicited donations are appreciated.
Help the Organization and Get Your Water Tested or Order the Private Well Owner Guide (proceeds benefit This Organization).
DCNR Agrees to Discuss Drilling in the Loyalsock State Forest
On Friday, DCNR announced it’s planning to hold a public meeting. It will also have its own experts participating in a web-based information session next week about plans to drill in the forest.
“DCNR has heard from numerous individuals and organizations on this issue through letters, phone calls and in a meeting this month with local stakeholders,” DCNR Secretary Richard Allan said through a release. “This webinar gives us an additional opportunity to exchange information and respond to questions about potential gas development in the Loyalsock, where the state does not own the subsurface gas rights.”
The key issues
1. The state does not own the mineral rights to 25,000 acres of state land. We only have surface rights.
2. Anadarko Petroleum owns about 50 percent of those rights.
3. Based on court decisions, DCNR has no say over what happens on 7,000 acres. Reportedly this area is the most ecologically sensitive (not sure what that means specifically).
“When we don’t own the mineral rights,” says Novak, “we do always attempt to talk with companies because it helps us protect a resource and it also helps them, by providing some certainty related to their development plans.”
For more information an a schedule of the Webinar and Public Meeting (no time set).
Harrisburg – Department of Conservation and Natural Resources officials will participate in a free, web-based seminar offered by Penn State Extension on Marcellus Shale issues in the Loyalsock State Forest, Lycoming County, on Thursday, April 25.
The session eventually will be archived and available on the Penn State Extension natural-gas website at http://extension.psu.edu/naturalgas.
Other resources
1. DCNR- Oil and Gas in PA
2.Do I have any say as to what oil and gas operators do on my land if I’m only a surface property owner?
Yes. Even if you do not own the oil and gas rights to your property, you should retain legal counsel and work with the operator to ensure that your property (including private water supplies, if applicable) is not adversely damaged by access to and drilling at the well site. For more information, consult “Landowners and Oil and Gas Leases in Pennsylvania” fact sheet or visit one of the online oil and gas leasing forums.
Additional Resource(s):
http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/office_of_oil_and_gas_management/20291
http://www.naturalgasforums.com/index.php
Source – Article by Susan Phillips (4/19/2013)
Website Provided for Educational Purpose.
Volunteer
We seek new people at all skill levels for a variety of programs. One thing that everyone can do is attend meetings to share ideas on improving CCGG, enabling us to better understand and address the concerns of well owners.
Everything we do began with an idea.
We realize your time is precious and the world is hectic. CCGG’s volunteers do only what they’re comfortable with. It can be a little or a lot.
For more information, please go to CCGG’s About Page or contact us.
Carbon County Groundwater Guardians is a 501(c)(3) IRS approved nonprofit, volunteer organization and your donation is tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.