Delaware Currents: Delaware River Conservation Corps Promoting Sustainable Jobs In Climate Resiliency, Green Infrastructure

By Chris Mele For Delaware Currents

 

This article first appeared in Delaware Currents October 11, 2022--

When Aaron Kirkland Sr. got out of prison in late 2014, he enrolled in a service in Philadelphia that helps ex-convicts reintegrate to the world after incarceration. Then he heard about a program called PowerCorpsPHL.

At the time, he recalled with a laugh, he was skeptical of anything that called itself a program.

What he found at PowerCorpsPHL, though, was passion, energy, motivation and inspiration. He was with the corps for six months and then did a yearlong apprenticeship with the Philadelphia Water Department.

“Having the government on my resume, I knew that would help me,” he said.

Watch a video about Aaron Kirkland Sr.’s involvement in PowerCorpsPHL

The corps, which is based in Philadelphia, models itself on an “earn and learn” approach to set its members on specific career paths and to maximize their chances of success.

The corps is one of 10 that make up a larger Delaware River Climate Corps, a new initiative to enhance climate resiliency and improve paths to so-called green careers in the Delaware River watershed in Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

The William Penn Foundation awarded a $1.65 million grant to establish the Delaware River Climate Corps. (Note: Delaware Currents is also the recipient of a grant from the foundation.)

The Delaware River Climate Corps is made up of groups in: Wilmington, Del.; Bridgeton, Camden, Phillipsburg and Trenton, N.J.; Hancock, N.Y.; and Allentown, Chester, Philadelphia and Reading in Pa.

Click Here to read the entire article in Delaware Currents.

(Photo: Aaron Kirkland Sr. is a supervisor overseeing 24 people in the green stormwater division of the Philadelphia Water Department.)

[Posted: October 13, 2022]  PA Environment Digest

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Lake Heritage In Adams County To Become Live Stake Nursery With Support From PA American Water Grant

The Watershed Coalition of the Lehigh Valley, in partnership with the Penn State Extension Master Watershed Steward Program has received funding from Pennsylvania American Water to install a live stake nursery at the Pennsylvania American Water property on Heritage Drive in Lake Heritage, Adams County.

Live stakes are branch cuttings of native trees and shrubs that, when planted along stream banks, grow into new trees or shrubs. They are an effective, low-cost way to establish a root network along stream banks to help prevent soil loss and to rebuild eroded banks.  

Live stake nurseries consist of native shrubs that, when mature, provide live stakes (cuttings) to local conservation organizations and streamside landowners.  These shrubs will provide future material to protect streams and habitat locally.

The nursery will be planted this fall and maintained by Penn State Extension MWSs, locally educated and managed volunteers who address conservation priorities in collaboration with a broad partnership of organizations and local governments.  

Volunteers in the Lake Heritage community will also help install plants and help with maintenance.  

The Master Water Steward Program recruits interested citizens from the community, provides them with formal classroom and hands-on, in-the-field learning, and then connects them with ongoing volunteer opportunities, such as riparian buffer installation, water quality monitoring, and watershed education activities.  

The program is now offered in 42 counties throughout the state, with 776 volunteers, who have contributed over 100,000 volunteer hours since the program began in 2013. 

If you would like to learn more about live stakes, stream health or how to get involved in the MWS program, contact Holly Smith by sending email to: hps5293@psu.edu.  

Resource Link:

-- Penn State Extension: Live Staking For Stream Restoration

-- Penn State Extension: Live Staking - A How-To Guide [Video]

Related Article:

-- PA American Water Announces $75,000 In Grants To Support Local Environmental Projects

[Posted: October 13, 2022]  PA Environment Digest

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Dept. Of Agriculture Protects 2,046 Acres Of Farmland In 10 Counties From Development

On October 13, the Department of Agriculture announced 2,046 acres on 24 farms in 10 counties are being protected from future development by the investment of nearly $7.5 million in state, county, local and nonprofit dollars. 

Pennsylvania has now protected 6,118 farms and 616,713 acres in 58 counties from future commercial, industrial or residential development.

The newly preserved farms are in Berks, Bucks, Cumberland, Dauphin, Lancaster, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton, Wyoming and York counties.

“Every dollar spent protecting prime farmland from development is an investment in our economy, our environment, our quality of life, and our ability to feed Pennsylvania’s families and economy,” Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding said. “Preserving land resources is one of the most important investments we make together, across every level of government, hand in hand with farm families investing to guard their legacy of daily hard work and sacrifice to feed us all.”   

By selling their land’s development rights, landowners ensure that their farm will remain a farm and never be sold for residential, commercial or industrial development. 

Farm families often sell their land at below market value, donate additional land, or agree to conservation practices on their farms in order to leverage additional federal and state money to preserve more family farms.

Pennsylvania partners with county and sometimes local governments and nonprofits to purchase development rights, ensuring a strong future for farming and food security and leading the nation in the number of preserved farms. 

Since 1988, Pennsylvania has invested more than $1.6 billion to protect open, green spaces and food production for the future.

Notable farms preserved by the PA Land Preservation Board include:

-- John M. and Kathryn A. Hunsberger’s farm in Bucks County is scenic and highly visible from the road. The prime location is coveted by residential developers who will pay top dollar for the land. The Hunsberger’s easement purchase will ensure that the 62-plus acres remain green space and productive farmland.

-- Robert and Laura Faux’s Wyoming County crop and cattle farm has been in their family for generations. The property’s original barn predates the Civil War, features hand-hewn beams and is still in use.

-- John W. Marsteller Jr.’s York County crop farm is the third farm preserved by the family, bringing the family’s total protected land to more than 1,400 acres. Southern York County is experiencing intense residential development pressure as a bedroom community for Baltimore commuters.

Click Here for a list of all farms preserved.

For more information on this program, visit Agriculture’s Farmland Preservation Program webpage.

Related Articles:

-- Natural Lands Adds 158 Acres To PA State Game Lands In Lebanon, Lancaster Counties  [PaEN]

-- Lancaster Farmland Trust Renews Its Focus On Farmland Preservation In Lancaster County  [PaEN]

-- DailyLocal.com: Delaware County-based Brandywine Conservancy’s Efforts To Preserve Land From Development Nears 70,000 Acre Mark

-- PennLive - Marcus Schneck: Waggoner’s Gap Hawk Watch In Cumberland County Donated To Game Commission

-- Courier Times: Future Of Fonthill Castle: How A Grant Could Transform Doylestown Landmark, Woodlands

[Posted: October 13, 2022]  PA Environment Digest

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Penn State Electric Vehicle Battery Tech Breakthrough Paves Way For Charging In Just 10 Minutes, Smaller Batteries

By Adrienne Berard, Penn State News

A breakthrough in electric vehicle battery design has enabled a 10-minute charge time for a typical Electric Vehicle battery. 

The record-breaking combination of a shorter charge time and more energy acquired for longer travel range was announced October 12 in the journal Nature.

“The need for smaller, faster-charging batteries is greater than ever,” said Chao-Yang Wang, the William E. Diefenderfer Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Penn State and lead author on the study. “There are simply not enough batteries and critical raw materials, especially those produced domestically, to meet anticipated demand.”

In August, California’s Air Resources Board passed an extensive plan to restrict and ultimately ban the sale of gasoline-powered cars within the state. By 2035, the largest auto market in the United States will effectively retire the internal combustion engine.

If new car sales are going to shift to battery-powered electric vehicles (EVs), Wang explained, they’ll need to overcome two major drawbacks: they are too slow to recharge and too large to be efficient and affordable. 

Instead of taking a few minutes at the gas pump, depending on the battery, some EVs can take all day to recharge.

“Our fast-charging technology works for most energy-dense batteries and will open a new possibility to downsize electric vehicle batteries from 150 to 50 kWh without causing drivers to feel range anxiety,” said Wang, whose lab partnered with State College-based startup EC Power to develop the technology. “The smaller, faster-charging batteries will dramatically cut down battery cost and usage of critical raw materials such as cobalt, graphite and lithium, enabling mass adoption of affordable electric cars.”

The technology relies on internal thermal modulation, an active method of temperature control to demand the best performance possible from the battery, Wang explained. 

Batteries operate most efficiently when they are hot, but not too hot. Keeping batteries consistently at just the right temperature has been a major challenge for battery engineers. 

Historically, they have relied on external, bulky heating and cooling systems to regulate battery temperature, which respond slowly and waste a lot of energy, Wang said. 

Wang and his team decided to instead regulate the temperature from inside the battery. 

The researchers developed a new battery structure that adds an ultrathin nickel foil as the fourth component besides anode, electrolyte and cathode. 

Acting as a stimulus, the nickel foil self-regulates the battery’s temperature and reactivity which allows for 10-minute fast charging on just about any EV battery, Wang explained.

“True fast-charging batteries would have immediate impact,” the researchers write. “Since there are not enough raw minerals for every internal combustion engine car to be replaced by a 150 kWh-equipped EV, fast charging is imperative for EVs to go mainstream.”

The study’s partner, EC Power, is working to manufacture and commercialize the fast-charging battery for an affordable and sustainable future of vehicle electrification, Wang said. 

The other coauthors on the study are Teng Liu, Xiao-Guang Yang, Shanhai Ge and Yongjun Leng of Penn State and Nathaniel Stanley, Eric Rountree and Brian McCarthy of EC Power.

The work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Air Force and the William E. Diefenderfer Endowment.

(Reprinted from Penn State News.)

Related Article:

-- PennDOT Invites Businesses To Learn About New National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Grant Program In Nov. 1 Webinar, 8 In-Person Stakeholder Sessions Beginning Oct. 13  [PaEN]

[Posted: October 13, 2022]  PA Environment Digest

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DCNR Issues 3rd Weekly Fall Foliage Report Showing Nearly Half The State At Best Color

On October 13, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources issued its third Weekly Fall Foliage Report showing nearly half the state at best color.

Fall color across the Commonwealth continues to build, some of which is simply breathtaking. From the Appalachians to the Alleghenies, and South Mountain to the Poconos, vibrant shades await the fall foliage enthusiast. 

With beautiful weather expected across the state this weekend, Pennsylvania travelers won’t need to go far to see the gorgeous colors adorning Penn’s Woods.

Click Here to read the October 13 to 19 report.

For more information, visit DCNR’s Fall Foliage Report webpage.

Click Here for prime locations for viewing fall foliage in PA.  To make travel arrangements, check out the VisitPA website.

Visit Explore PA Trails and Get Outdoors PA for recreation areas near you.

  For more information on state parks and forests and recreation in Pennsylvania, visit DCNR’s website, Visit the Good Natured DCNR Blog,  Click Here for upcoming events, Click Here to hook up with DCNR on other social media-- Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr.

[Posted: October 13, 2022]  PA Environment Digest

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Conservation Groups Urge DEP To Deny Transco Permits For Natural Gas Pipeline Thru Exceptional Value, High Quality Watersheds In Luzerne, Monroe Counties

On October 13, local, regional, and state environmental groups submitted 28 pages of comments to the Department of Environmental Protection urging the agency to deny Erosion and Sedimentation and Water Encroachment permits through Exceptional Value and High Quality watersheds for the Transco Regional Energy Access Natural Gas Pipeline.

Transco project would include 22.3 miles of 30-inch-diameter pipeline in Luzerne County, 13.8 miles of 42-inch-diameter pipeline in Monroe County, a portion of Northampton County, a gas-fired, turbine-driven compressor station in Gloucester County, NJ, and several other modifications to existing pipeline and compressor stations. 

The pipeline would damage 114 Exceptional Value wetlands, 77 bodies of water supporting cold water fisheries, 39 High Quality streams, 2 Exceptional Value streams, 17 Class A Wild Trout Streams, 57 waterbodies with naturally reproducing trout, and 297 acres of forests. 

As a recent report from Our Pocono Waters states, Exceptional Value and High Quality watersheds provide over $3 billion in environmental, social, and economic benefits to our communities. Read more here.

“If Transco’s applications are approved, it would allow harmful open cuts across sensitive high quality and exceptional value streams and wetlands, destroying riparian buffers and floodplain habitats across the watershed,” said Maya van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper and Leader of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, “We have documented damage from past pipelines using similar crossing and cutting techniques, so we urge the PADEP to deny the application based upon evidence of past harms.”

“The Brodhead Watershed Association raises concerns about water quality and quantity impacts to Chestnuthill Township’s Lake Mineola & Lake Mineola Marsh. The proposed pipeline will open a trench and cut directly through hydrologically connected Exceptional value (EV) wetlands. Transco indicates that part of this complex will suffer permanent impacts. Dividing up connected wetland complexes undercuts the intent of wetlands protection and the spirit of the Chapter 105 regulations,” said Alexander Jackson, PhD., Executive Director of the Brodhead Watershed Association.

“REAE is yet another destructive pipeline project designed to line the fracking industry’s pockets at the expense of the integrity of our lands and the quality of our air and water,” said Joseph Otis Minott, Executive Director & Chief Counsel of Clean Air Council. “DEP should reject the application for its failure to meet the basic requirements for a safe and well designed project.”

“The waterways that this pipeline will cut across are among the highest quality streams in the Commonwealth and are entitled under the law to the highest protections, notes Jessica O’Neill, senior attorney at Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future, “The Department must not allow repeated cuts to these special protection waters, particularly in the service of the fossil fuels that contribute to climate change.” 

Click Here for a copy of the comments.

Visit DEP's Transco Regional Energy Access Pipeline Project webpage for more information on the project.

Related Articles:

-- House Committee Fails To Address $70 Million In Penalties On Natural Gas Pipelines Or Real Concerns Of People Living Near Gas Production & Distribution Facilities

-- AG Shapiro: Energy Transfer/Sunoco Convicted Of Criminal Charges Related To Construction Of Mariner East 2 & Revolution Natural Gas/Liquids Pipelines In PA

-- Exceptional Value Water Quality Designation, State Forest Land, River Honors Were Not Enough To Protect Loyalsock Creek From Natural Gas Drilling & Pipelines In Lycoming County - By Friends Of The 'Sock   [9.7.22]

-- DEP, Fish & Boat Commission Investigate Multiple, Continuing Water Pollution Discharges From PGE Natural Gas Pipeline Construction Site On Loyalsock Creek, Lycoming County  [9.13.22]

-- Rare Eastern Hellbender Habitat In Loyalsock Creek, Lycoming County Harmed By Sediment Plumes From Pipeline Crossings, Shale Gas Drilling Water Withdrawal Construction Projects  [9.15.22]

-- DEP Issues 2 NOVs Against PA General Energy For Water Pollution Discharges Into The Loyalsock Creek From Gas Pipeline/Water Withdraw Construction In Lycoming County  [9.27.22] 

-- Study: Industry Data Shows Hazardous Air Pollutants Are ‘Ubiquitous’ In The Natural Gas Transmission System; More Justification For Robust Leak Prevention Programs  [9.21.22]

-- Environmental Groups Raise Serious Compliance Issues With Olympus Energy-- Over 600 Violations On 13 DEP Permits-- In Comments On Proposed Shale Gas Drilling Pad In Allegheny County  [10.6.22]

Related Articles This Week:

-- DEP Collects $147,250 Penalty From Rice Drilling B LLC For Erosion & Sedimentation Violations In Greene County; DEP Found Rice Had Hundreds Of Other Violations, Including Abandoning Wells Without Plugging Them  [10.6.22]

-- EQB Adopts Final-Omitted Reg. Limiting Methane Emissions From Conventional Oil & Gas Facilities; And A First-Ever State MCL For PFOS/PFOA  [PaEN]

[Posted: October 13, 2022]  PA Environment Digest

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Faithful Climate Justice Voter Reflection Guide Now Available From PA Interfaith Power & Light

PA Interfaith Power & Light is making available the Faithful Voter Climate Justice Reflection Guide to help promote discussion of Climate Justice issues from a moral and ethical perspective ahead of the November 8 election.

"As people of faith and conscience across the country, we believe elections are a referendum on the values that will shape our future. 

-- How can we renew our fragile democracy? 

-- How do we honor the human dignity of every person? 

-- Will we protect God’s Creation, our Sacred Earth, and our children’s future? 

-- What policies will prioritize the common good and confront future crises that remind us of our interdependence? 

“Many of the defining moral issues of our time are on the ballot: faltering democratic institutions, too much wealth in the hands of a few, damage to the climate, cruel immigration policies that tear families apart, mass incarceration that devastates communities of color, senseless gun violence, and threats to global public health and security. 

“These challenges are daunting. We must move forward in a spirit of hope, and we must resist despair and cynicism. 

“Using our voices to fulfill our civic duty and vote in every election makes a difference in our communities – and our world. Your vote is how you can speak up for our common home and our neighbors. 

“Voting is how we create a society based on our shared values. 

“This reflection guide is intended to spur discussion and discernment. Whether you use it at a kitchen table, in a house of worship, at a community forum, or at an event with political candidates, we hope it helps you navigate the urgent moral questions raised by this election. 

“The issues we address here are not exhaustive, but we believe they provide a framework for evaluating issues and candidates in a way that prioritizes solutions that promote dignity and the common good. 

“Each section includes suggested questions to guide your conversations and spark ideas for questions to ask political candidates.”

Click Here for a copy of the Faithful Voter Reflection Guide.

For more information on programs, initiatives, upcoming events and how you can get involved, visit the PA Interfaith Power & Light website.

Related Article:

-- Guest Essay: Why I'm Concerned About Climate Change - By Dr. Phil Covert, Evangelical Environmental Network  [PaEN]

[Posted: October 14, 2022] PA Environment Digest

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