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Welcome to the Pennsylvania Environmental Network (PEN) web site. PEN's mission has always been to support and encourage local grassroots activism throughout Pennsylvania by providing the framework through which individuals and groups alike could network. More »

PEN News Headlines

Proposed tire-burning power plant on Lake Erie creates controversy

Monday, March 31, 2008

Erie, Pa. - There's a tire fight smoldering along the Lake Erie shore, just 100 miles east of Cleveland.

Whether it flares up - or flames out - might depend on whether Pennsylvania environmental officials grant an air pollution permit to a new $235 million power plant that opponents are calling the world's largest and most dangerous tire incinerator. Read more...

Comments Needed - Public Hearing - Clairton Coke Works

June 5th, 2008

The Public Hearing on the U.S. Steel Clairton Coke plant upgrade permits is scheduled for June 19, 6:30 pm, Clairton Municipal Building, 551 Ravensburg Blvd., Clairton. Those wishing to comment at the hearing must register with the Health Department no later than 4 pm, June 18.

Public comments can also be submitted to the Allegheny Co. Health Department, by email at aqpermits@achd.net, or by mail to the Allegheny Co. Health Department, 301 39th St., Pittsburgh 15201. At the request of Clean Water Action and GASP, Group Against Smog and Pollution, the Health Department agreed to extend the 30-day comment period from June 5 to June 19, to allow for review of the complicated application.The permit can be reviewed online at the website, www.achd.net

Thanks to Don Hopey for his excellent coverage.

Newsletter Delayed Pending new Bulk Mail Permit

16 April 2008

Our print newsletter NetWorks will be delayed until the U.S. Postal Service approves our new bulk mail permit. Apologies to all, we'll get this mess cleared up soon and we'll have the newsletter mailed out as soon as we can. Thanks!

Residents Concerned Sewer Sludge Toxic

1 April 2008

Call for Synagro-Owner Carlyle to Disclose Distribution Practices, Report Testing of Product

PHILADELPHIA, PA — Environmental activists and residents from around Pennsylvania staged a speakout Sunday at a Residual and Biosolids conference, calling for the expanded testing of Synagro sewer sludge, and for public reporting on its toxicity and disposal from the Carlyle Group, Synagro's private equity owner.

"Community members don't know everything that is in the sludge dumped nearby," said Sue Fox of the Shrewsbury Township Environmental Protection Community (STEPCO) "Without more information, I worry about possible health effects and diminished quality of life. Until there is more scientific data and more testing that inspires real confidence, I think sewage sludge land application should be ceased. Sludge testing by the sewage treatment plants seems to me like the fox watching the chicken house."

"When Synagro was applying food processing waste across the street from my home in Douglass Township, we experienced a terrible smell and volumes of flies-to the point where we didn't want our children to go outdoors to play," said Mary Crocker, a community activist from Douglass Township. "Synagro stopped applying the food processing waste, but then it began spreading sewage sludge instead. We have never been given answers to our satisfaction regarding the content of the waste and sludge spread by Synagro."

Anything sent to a sewer can potentially end up in sludge, including toxic substances such as human waste, fertilizer run-off, chemical run-off, or discharges from hospitals or manufacturing plants. Concerns about the safety of Synagro sludge have intensified since the company's April 2007 buyout by The Carlyle Group. By taking Synagro private, Carlyle may be able to avoid requirements that Synagro provide certain information about its business practices to the public and federal agencies, including regulatory inquiries or legal complaints against the company resulting from health hazards caused by Synagro products and product distribution.

Several incidents involving Synagro since the buyout have raised concerns about the impact of Synagro sludge.

In September 2007, officials in Shrewsbury Township, Pennsylvania were flooded with complaints from residents living near a Synagro sludge dumping site. According to the York Dispatch, residents complained of an odorous stench, nitrates contaminating wells, and repeated infections.
This month Alabama's Limestone County reportedly reached a settlement to end Synagro's distribution of processed human waste in fields within its jurisdiction, after residents' complaints of a strong odor. The Commissioner stressed his Department's "rising concerns" about Synagro's product.

Mining Continues to Destroy Cultural Riches of Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania at Risk, the annual publication of the Commonwealth's most endangered historic places, listed the Elliott Mine Archaeological Complex, located in Butler and Lawrence Counties, in 1999. A cluster of more than twenty prehistoric archaeological sites on 200 acres of glacial terraces overlooking Slippery Rock Creek, the area had the potential “to document the entire sequence of aboriginal occupation” in the Allegheny drainage area. With artifacts from nearly every prehistoric and contact period Native American culture for the last 12,000 years, it was a rich record of our heritage. A gravel mine permit was granted for the site, however, and the complex has been destroyed. The same company now wants to mine part of the Jacksville Esker, about 3 miles south of the Elliott complex. Eskers are glacial formations, traditionally used as burial sites for aboriginal people (http://www.acee.gc.ca/015/001/003/index_e.htm.)

A long winding ridge of sand and gravel, the Jacksville Esker is the “best preserved esker in Pennsylvania”, according to the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) (http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us:80/topogeo/ParkGuides/pg4_9/site8.aspx). Many people believe this esker should be preserved and have written to the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) opposing the sand and gravel mining permit application #10070304. The DCNR states that it is currently being reviewed for inclusion in the Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program. The Pittsburgh Geological Society indicates that this terminal end of the esker has drawn many naturalists and students, and is more highly valued for research than the remaining vestiges of the six mile ridge. This site is also valuable for environmental reasons. The mining will destroy an onsite wetland, and impact another wetland along the northern border of the site, the West Liberty Bog. The “Bog” is actually a fen, and according to the Environmental Protection Agency, fens reduce the risk of floods, improve water quality, and provide habitat for unique plant and animal communities and should be protected http://www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/types/fen.html. Tamarack Lake, one of the most southern glacial lakes in western Pennsylvania, is also nearby and the three features – esker, fen, and lake – are actually one interrelated, interdependent system that will all be threatened, and possibly destroyed, by the mining.

The PA Fish and Boat Commission has requested a field review before the DEP makes its decision. They are concerned about the wetlands, as well as the eastern massasauga, an endangered snake living near the site. Other endangered species of concern include the onsite sedge, carex pseudocyperus, and the American bittern, sighted in the area by an Audubon Society member. The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, which owns an adjacent portion of the esker to the west, has stated that the wetlands north of the site are “Exceptional Value” due to the endangered species, and state that the mining “may adversely impact the unique geologic feature conserved on our property”.

A formal hearing is scheduled February 19th, hosted by the DEP, to hear the public’s concerns about this mining proposal. More details are available at http://www.tasowfilms.com/esker.php Citizens can also write to the DEP Knox Mining Office (Box 669, Knox, PA 16232-0669) with their concerns. But will it matter? In 1995 Act 70 amended the Pennsylvania Code concerning archaeological sites. Previous laws protecting Commonwealth sites were gutted, shifting the responsibility for protection from the DEP and the miners to the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC). However, the PHMC was not given the funding, nor adequate time parameters to conduct all the needed investigations for the state. Furthermore, when they can intervene in a mining operation, the PHMC most often can just recommend extracting the archeological artifacts or “mitigating” the damage, rather than denying the mining altogether. Maybe the massasauga will once again intervene to save this irreplaceable historical and environmental treasure of our heritage. The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania states that “the people have a right to clean air, pure water, and the preservation of natural, scenic, historic and aesthetic values of the environment As trustee of the resources, the Commonwealth shall conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all the people.” We hope the DEP will exercise its stewardship wisely and deny the permit.