~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  E-News   Feb- March  2011  
A monthly Update from the Water Resources Education Network
a project of the League of Women Voters of PA - Citizen Education Fund 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
In this issue
March Feature - Drug Takeback Day
February Feature - Deicer
Marcellus Resources
Marcellus Monitoring
WREN Grants
Quick links
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~    March WREN Feature is Posted
Nationwide Drug Take-back Day April 30
 

A second nationwide day to collect unwanted, expired, and unused drugs is planned for

McKean pharma

April 30.  Local police departments are partnering with the federal Drug Enforcement Agency to  host collection sites across the nation.  To find a collection site near you, visit   www.dea.gov 

 

Last Fall's collection day, though little publicized,  collected 121 TONs of pills, at 3000 collection sites nationwide.

 

Police departments are asked to sign up to host a drop-off site by March 31.  If your local law enforcement agency has not signed up to host a site, offer to help organize a collection day.  Registration forms, instructions for collection days and publicity tools can be found on the WREN website in the  Features section

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
February WREN Feature is Posted

New de-icer is a sweet deal for the Chesapeake

Derrry Township, home to Hershey, PA, is testing a molasses-like byproduct derived from sugar beets on icy, winter roads. The by-product - a de-sugared liquid typically fed to animals or flushed down the drain - will not freeze until temperatures get down to -30 degrees fahrenheit, which exceeds the anti-freezing point reached by salt alone.

Read more ....

(Reprinted from Bay Journal, January 2011)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  

Marcellus Resources

  Marcellus
Citizen's Guide to Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania

(National Sea Grant Law Center and PA Sea Grant, 2010, 25 pp)

 

 The guide provides a brief overview of potential impacts, the regulatory process in Pennsylvania, how residents may participate in the process, and where to go for more information.    

   

 

   

The Marcellus Shale: Resources for Stakeholders in the Upper Delaware Watershed Region Pinchot Marcellus

(Pinchot Institute for Conservation, 2010, 100 pp.)

 

 Despite the range of potential impacts, there is only disjointed and inconsistent information available to the general public. Many organizations and entities are active in developing and/or disseminating information to landowners in the Delaware River Basin. This project will not reinvent all of this previous work.  It will draw information together into a single, objective, user-friendly resource to meet the needs of landowners and local governments.    


New York Times Series - Drilling Down

Examines the risks of natural-gas drilling and efforts to regulate this rapidly growing industry.          March 6, 7, 8 2011.   

Former DEP Secretary Hanger responds to New York Times articles
http://johnhanger.blogspot.com/2011_03_01_archive.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WREN / ALLARM webinar - Marcellus Monitoring - March 23  Noon - 1 PM  

Concerned residents and landowners living within the Marcellus shale play are asking how they can best determine if streams are being affected by drilling activities.  For many, the goals are early detection and prevention of serious environmental impact.  Community groups involved in volunteer monitoring and regional and state-wide service providers have responded to this need by collaboratively developing protocols and database management strategies to achieve these goals.  In 2010 the Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring spent seven months researching and testing a volunteer-based Marcellus Monitoring protocol for the early detection of flowback contamination in small Pennsylvania streams.

 

The March 23  webinar will cover the steps in and the science behind the protocol as well as information on Marcellus Monitoring resources throughout the state.

 

The webinar is sponsored by WREN and presented by Julie Vastine, the director of the Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring (ALLARM) at Dickinson College.  Julie is responsible for leadership of the ALLARM program, as well as providing monitoring technical assistance to watershed organizations. She has worked with volunteer monitors for nine years.

 

Julie Kollar, WREN Project Director, will introduce the webinar with a brief overview of WREN Grants for Watershed Education and Drinking Water Protection Education.

 

The webinar will take place on March 23 - Noon to 1:00 PM at http://breeze.psu.edu/PAWatersheds.
To participate in the March 23 webinar, you will need to have a "Friends of Penn State" account (digital user ID and password - and available free at  http://fps.psu.edu).
 The session will be recorded and made available after the live presentation.  The link to the recording will be forwarded following the program or can be viewed at  www.extension.psu.edu/water

Contact
Kristen Saacke Blunk, [email protected] with log-in questions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  

WREN Grants

The deadline for submitting applications for WREN grants for source water protection and watershed education is March 25.    Information and application forms at:                                    http://wren.palwv.org/grants/grants_wren.html 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Quick Links

Penn State Cooperative Extension Natural Gas Events and webinars 

 
WREN websites: http://wren.palwv.org and www.sourcewaterpa.org  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WREN logo 3

Join Our Mailing List
to receive monthly News from WREN